Kirby Jackson

That is actually a really fair point. Gase did drive off a lot of guys. I wasn’t thinking about that. Things may have been different if he didn’t create a toxic culture. I can’t wait for him to bring that to the Jets

I’m not trying to judge him too harshly and I’m sorry if it is coming across as that. I’m not trying to give the guy a free pass either. The only thing we have to formulate opinions at this point is the work with the Dolphins. I don’t think that any reasonable person can look at that situation and say that they did well. Maybe he was constantly overruled and would have been right? Maybe he was a big part of these bad decisions? We don’t know that. We just know that the results were bad.

If he had no say, that is a problem. If he had a say, he did a bad job. EVERY analytics person has a voice in today’s professional sports. Gase didn’t pick players. This guys likely had as much to do with that as Gase. Now they are talking about tearing it down.

No, they are a team in a bad cap situation with a lack of talent. I see that as an indictment on the numbers people. This guy absolutely had a say in all of these deals. He was either, a part of the problem, or didn’t have enough respect in the room to have his voice heard. Either way you slice it, that’s is not a good look IMO.

If there’s one team that has been masterful at their use of analytics it’s the Dolphins (sarcasm font).

I live there. I know how people feel about Byrd. At the time they signed Byrd they had very little cap space. That’s the point. I can’t think of any players that the Saints were forced to jettison because they were cash strapped? They made some bad decisions (ie Byrd) but the foundation of their team was always in tact. They are talking about trying to get Antonio Brown now. They are 28th in “cap space.” It’s not a real thing. You push your chips in when your window is open and then you take some lumps when it closes. If your window remains open (like the Saints) you just keep kicking the can down the road. In fact Mickey Loomis said exactly that earlier this week: https://www.nola.com/saints/2019/01/mickey-loomis-discusses-drew-brees-nfl-high-cap-hit-for-2019.html?outputType=amp The ONLY time that a team faces a serious cap issue is when they push in thinking that their window is open (see: Jaguars, Jacksonville). Other than that you just tweak as necessary (or desired). The Bills weren’t in any real cap trouble. The situation just wasn’t ideal for a clean slate rebuild. They took all of their lumps at once to clear the deck.

I don’t know Oldtimer. I have watched the Saints do it for YEARS. The NFL salary cap is designed to allow you to kick the can down the road. There is really no such thing as “cap trouble” unless you are inept. You can make any move that you want a reality. Every team has some places that they can “manipulate” if need be to get whomever. The Charles Clay release is a perfect example. If the Bills were strapped the Clay savings ($4.5M) could get them a competent starter(s) elsewhere. That savings alone could give the Bills something like Eiffert and Jordan Phillips. That is without ever touching the previous space. To take it a step further the Bills could release Shady and the savings from Shady and Clay could get you Le’Veon Bell (if you wanted). It is all about contract structure. That’s what the Saints have figured out. They just keep pushing everything into the future because their window is open. You keep it going as long as you can and then you hit the reset button. You are fine a year later. The capologists know EXACTLY how to work the cap.

This was a little much. I can’t believe that these guys would joke about it!! I kept thinking of Bob Ueker in Major League.

https://deadspin.com/rod-woodson-says-what-were-all-quietly-thinking-about-t-1832846438

I agree 1,000,000%

So sorry Gug!! Spend as much time with Chloe as you can and tell her you love her.

Ha ha, no woo.

Here’s my guess: LT - Andre Dillard LG - Dion Dawkins C - Mitch Morse RG - John Miller (that’s my surprise) RT - Ja’Wuan James That was RT. I don’t think that he has played OG in the NFL.

FWIW, strengthfinders 2.0 was one of the best books that we ever did in our group. We did it as a management team. There is a test that you take online (kind of a survey) to reveal your 5 best strengths. You get a report on how those strengths manifest themselves. We did it to learn how we need to approach different situations and communicate with one another in addition to our teams. Basically, we tried to quantify how we need to communicate to the staff. Certain people are wired to do different things and fill different roles. It really is an incredible concept and quite interesting. Not that you (or anyone else cares) but my top 5 strengths were: ideation, competition, strategic thinker, includer and futuristic. In a nutshell, I am an empathetic problem-solver. I am a big picture person, driven by people, that sucks at details. I’m not good in conflict because I don’t like to let people down. So, we had other people whose skills plugged those gaps and vice versa. We would try to loom at the task and decide the person best equipped to handle it. I know that’s a bit of a tangent but it something that I buy into. That’s part of the reason that I am so high on Josh (and I didn’t like the pick at the time). He has a few MASSIVE strengths. He’s not “pretty good at everything” like Alex Smith for example. Allen has a few elite talents. He needs to harness them and improve but he can be a great player because of it. Alex Smith can never be great because he doesn’t do anything to differentiate himself. He is just, good at a bunch of different things.

I think that he and Reggie are on different pages. I’m not sure what the exact issue was but they better get it figured out. They are leading the conference without the preseason player of the year. If they get Reese back they have a real chance to be in the tournament.

I agree with what you’re saying. Ideally, he gets better at everything. At the same time, if you are “better” at your strengths it should have a similar impact to getting better at your weaknesses. If BB is focused on the deep ball, and you are the best deep ball thrower in the game, you are still going to make some plays. If he’s focused on that and you become average at throwing in the flat, you’ll make some plays there. The point is that it doesn’t really matter where Josh takes steps forward. The team will improve regardless of it. I just happen to fall in the group that believes “strengthening your strengths” is more important than raising your weaknesses. Ideally, you get better at everything.

I’d love to have the right guy. I just don’t see it in the “top 5 offseason priorities.” I say that because, imo, that isn’t Allen’s strength. They need OL, WR, RB, pass rush and Kyle’s replacement more than a TE. Now, if they draft Hockensen (or someone like that) he will make them better. Devin White makes them better too but LB isn’t a huge need. I am ALL for adding talent though. If Hockensen is the top player on their board at 9 I hope that they draft him. I feel the same way about Devin White (who I LOVE as a prospect). The Bills need an I fusion of talent everywhere. I don’t really care where they decide to address it, just upgrade the talent.

I actually LOVE this approach but it scares me some. I am a huge believer in the Strengthfinders model (if you guys haven’t read the book you should). The general philosophy is “maximize your strengths” and don’t worry so much about trying to make your weaknesses functioning. If anyone is going to flourish it’s because of their elite traits. That’s where I am with Allen. I am not too concerned about how he throws a swing pass. I want him to be an elite big play QB. That’s what he does well. I would much rather Josh improves his accuracy down the field than on swing passes. The sarcasm came from you asking if I realized that blocking was important. Of course I do, but that isn’t a trait that I am paying for. James is a guy that I’d be glad to add to this team. The entire premise of my posts on the topic are that he’s just okay. He makes the Bills better. He doesn’t make the Bills good at TE. Both of those things can be (and would be) true. There is nothing wrong with that.

Sure, but that’s not Jesse James.

I’m not saying “don’t” have it. I am saying that the best part of Allen’s game is his big play ability. We should do everything possible to surround him with people to help in that. That, to me, is OL help and speed. Play to your strengths and be elite at something not okay at a bunch of things. Also, to me it is more about the player. James is a guy imo. We need people like that but he’s not moving the needle. That makes me totally indifferent on him. If the price is right, sure. If not, find someone else.

I don’t see how (or why) they’d move to a more ball controlled offense? That’s not who Allen is. That’s Alex Smith. Allen is a guy that makes big plays and throws with a lot of air yards. I don’t see the Bills throwing a lot of curls. They try to pick up chunks at a time. I haven’t read anywhere that they plan to change that and would be surprised to see if I did.

Ha ha ha

I guess that we will agree to disagree. I know Clay wasn’t very good last year but his production fell off a cliff. I don’t think a TE is that important with Allen. I’d still like one but would rather spend the same money on John Brown if you had to pick one or the other.

I didn’t realize that. That changes everything. He’s a top 5 guy now (just behind Lee Smith).