GunnerBill

Some of us said after the Buccs..... this is about opposition nothing else. The Bills are happy to dial up deep shots. They took them against the Buccs because guys were open. Cos that was a bad secondary, especially with Dean out early. The Texans secondary is darn good. Their corners are excellent. I was one of the few who stood pat on Lassiter when everyone downgraded him for a bad combine. Dude can play. And Stingley is a stud.

The 2017 Bills draft is easily the best non-Josh Allen draft of my fandom. But Dawkins hasn't been an all pro. 4 x pro bowler and had all pro votes but never been a 1st or 2nd team all pro.

He did cap strategy I believe. I don't know that he was actually the spreadsheet and numbers guy. But maybe back in his football ops days he did.

Yes. Spreadsheets and numbers.

He does contracts and cap. He was Overdorf's deputy. Promoted a few years ago. As I understand it when Beane is negotiating with say, for example, Cook he will say to Megank "we want him, we think this is the number and here is our ceiling" then Megank will come back with options for how that can be structured and what each of those options mean for the cap down the road. Beane obviously signs off on everything.

It wasn't his main job but he was, as Assistant GM, overseeing the cap because Gettleman was a pure scout. But I don't think he was the "capologist" in the way Overdorf was for years. He was the cap strategy guy responsible for working with that department on how to manage things long term. Kevin Megank is now the Bills capologist. But he is only the numbers man. Beane is still the one setting the cap strategy

I don't see any of that as dysfunction personally - except probably for Beane's radio appearance. That, in isolation, I agree was a clown show. Benching Keon and criticising Elam isn't. It is just managing under performance. I think for the most part this regime has been professional, competent and buttoned up. It just hasn't been good enough in the big moments.

I don't think it is fair to call it a circus. They haven't been a clown show. They have been professional and methodical. It just hasn't worked and/or they haven't quite been good enough.

So the guy I speak to has only been on staff in the DaCosta regime. So I can't speak to Newsome but Newsome is a Belichick protege and he was famous for player specifications and the smallest draft board in the NFL.

That analogy isn't completely out of place. I see where you are going. The vibe has been off all season this year after a kind of slight overachievement in 2024 which has been odd.

Bosa "gutting it out" come on man. He rarely breaks into a jog. I'd have cut him today if I was in charge. His effort last night wad non existant

I have proof the other way. He does not influence individual picks. The positive in McDermott is he is a good football coach. Witness the improvement on 3rd down defense since he took over playcalling as yet another example. Sean McDermott can coach football better than most people on this planet. Do I see an immediate route to it getting better from here for this regime though? No I don't. And I genuinely don't see any benefit in saddling him with a new GM who he doesn't have chemistry with or vice versa Beane with a Head Coach. That never works and just delays the inevitable.

If you want to say, for example, that they spend too many resources on defense then that is broader strategy and both of them have their hands in the blood on that. If you want to say "Kaiir Elam was a bust" or on the flip side "James Cook is a stud" that is on Brandon Beane.

I am sure about it. I have spoken to two people who have worked in that building and been in the draft meetings and in the room. Neither are still in the organisation but both have confirmed to me absolutely that Brandon Beane runs personnel. The evaluations and the decisions are his. He and McDermott are aligned strategically but the evaluations and selections are Brandon Beane.

I promise you it is. I have a relationship with someone on the staff in Baltimore. He says their player specifications are absolute. They are interesting because they apply positional value far LESS than many teams. But their specifications on what a D end needs for their scheme, what a corner needs etc are gospel.