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.

We UNQUESTIONABLY have a talent issue. There is a legit debate that then can take place about whether coaching is maximising what we DO have. And that is fair. But it starts with a talent issue.

Every team has player specifications for what their scheme needs the Bills are not unique on that. Indeed even the teams you probably think are more just draft the best player are probably the strictest on that specification - Ravens and Eagles for example . But I don't think it is ever "just get me a fast linebacker." And if it is then Beane failed with Terrel Bernard! Although to be fair to Beane he did take the best remaining linebacker on the board when he selected Bernard two rounds ahead of where most had him pegged. He is actually an example of a good draft choice (though I am less persuaded he is a good contract extension and said that at the time). They do value coverage ability at linebacker, they value length at edge and at corner, they value movement skills on the offensive line. But I don't think it is their player specifications that is hurting them with the exception that I think they do under value speed, generally across the roster. I think their positional value is the bigger issue. And that is on Beane. He drafts to the Gettleman / Hurney rules. And he tells us himself that is what he believes in. Defensive front 7 and Quarterbacks early, oline and running backs next, boundary players last. I know he has drafted two 1st round corners as well but that is only really cos he whiffed so badly on the first one. Elam, Hairston, Bishop and Taron are the only DBs he has taken in the first four rounds in SEVEN drafts.

Beane runs the draft. The overall strategy McDermott has a say in so if you want to argue too much on defense etc its legit to point to both of them. But Beane is 100% the one evaluating and selecting players.

I agree with speed. They lack it almost everywhere. Don't have a speed edge rusher. Don't have a fast receiver. They finally have some at corner with Max but he is still a bit up and down at the moment. They used to have speed at the second level that was the trade off for lacking size - if you threw short of the sticks to the flats Milano and Taron chased you down and tackled you. But the injuries have taken their toll on both. But fundamentally, even more than speed.... they just don't have enough talent.

I think it is the other way round. If they keep asking McDermott to coach a Beane built roster it won't get any better. But they are tied as far as I am concerned. One goes both go.

He had a bad night last night. A real bad night. And why he is getting away from Cook I have no idea. Early 4th Quarter, down 1 score Cook who had our only offensive touchdown.... had ELEVEN carries. That is inexcuseable.

Yes I think he would.

We were explosive last Sunday because the Tampa secondary sucks. Conversely the Houston secondary is really good. It is as simple as that. Against a good set of DBs our guys failed to get open, again.

McDermott has fixed the 3rd down defense since assuming playcalling. Through the Falcons game with Babich calling things (I think they swapped at half time but let's just count that game as him - it got better after half but I'll give Babich the benefit of the doubt) the Bills 3rd down D was giving up 40.8% - which over the season would be good for 23rd in the NFL. Since then with McDermott calling things the 3rd down D is running at 34.2% - which over the season would be good for 4th in the entire NFL after Denver, Chicago and Houston. He has also fixed the miscommunications pre-snap. Took him a couple of games and they had to use time outs to fix some in the Kansas City game, but since then, better. They were the two things I said he woild fix. And he has. The rest - including the run D - I just don't think that is a coaching fix. Last night in that first half the Bills had the right calls on all but 1 run. They had a guy in the right gap. And they couldn't make a play. Do I have some sympathy with bench Taron and bench Bernard? Sure. But fundamentally players just have to make plays. Whoever said it (I think it was @Kirby Jackson) a couple of week ago about the D was spot on. They are between eras. They have 4 or 5 first or second year guys with some promise but they also still have 4 guys starting from the 2018 defense plus Jones up front who are past their best. The only prime age starters are Groot, Bernard and Benford and two of those are looking like bad contracts for sure.

Watching Joey Bosa walk around is not fun for me. I missed some of the 3rd Quarter last night. I am on holiday and decided to prioritise some time with the other half. I don't often turn off or miss bits of Bills games but we have players out there not giving their all. Especially Bosa whose effort is laughable. And that does piss me off. They were absolutely terrible but the Gailey teams and the Jauron teams they tried. There were guys especially on defense first half last night who I guarantee you were not playing with 100% effort.