GunnerBill

I am not disconnected from reality. I just think he is overrated on the basis of one excellent adjustment in the playoffs vs Mahomes. In six years as the Bengals DC they have been in top half of the league for points or yards ONCE (2021 when they were for both) and have never been better than 20th in the league on 3rd down. Yes, you have to give him credit for the fact his defenses have generally played better in the post season. But unless your argument is that he intentionally sandbags in the regular season I'm not sure how you explain that beyond the general randomness of the NFL. I don't think he is a terrible DC. But for someone whose reputation is as a great defensive mind you'd want to see better production. I do agree this year they had lost some talent but he still has players on that D good enough to be better than they were.

Very feasible. He was on the same Dolphins staff as Dan Campbell as well as Zac Taylor.

Eric is wrong.

I think they could too. But they will have to be better than that to convince the Bills to sacrifice the continuity. One of them would have to be bashing the door down I think.

David Edwards was "his" draft pick too if we are talking Kromer. He is very much his guy. I don't see a route for SVPG to start next year.

For sure. But I'd bet a dime to a dollar he wants the continuity too.

It was after his first year with the Panthers he interviewed. He was fired as OC within about 8 games. I don't think he will get the Jets job (and not sure he'd take it). He is in play for the Saints though. It will be him or Aaron Glenn. Loomis doesn't like people he doesn't know. The way I see this cycle: Vrabel and Johnson (if he wants one) will get jobs. McCarthy either stays with Dallas or gets hired elsewhere. That means there is a max of 3 other openings for which Joe Brady, Aaron Glenn, Brian Flores, Vance Joseph and Anthony Weaver appear to be the early hot names.

Spags isn't getting another HC gig.

They were the guilty partites on Barkley. They were not the guilty parties on Jones. That decision came straight from the owner's office and the reason Mara is not firing them is he knows he sold them a pup. Pretty widely accepted amongst the New York media now that they were told the Jones extension was non-negotiable.

I think "very replaceable" is a bit harsh. He is their weakest starter on offense and he still has too many inconsistencies in his game for me, but he isn't Cody Ford "replace him with a traffic cone" type bad. This season was odd. Slow start, then turned it round and had a real solid middle of the year and then he, more than anyone, seemed to half ass it once we were playing dead rubber games. I dunno. Motivation is something I question with him. Does he really have that dog in him? As I said the other day in the SVPG conversation I feel very strongly the Bills bring the same 5 back up front next year. But if Grable or Anderson or someone really makes a push his is the most vulnerable spot. I expect him to start in 2025 though. He is serviceable.

Excellent in pass pro. Needs to bend better in the run game to really drive his guy back. Tends to get stood up a bit quickly. But you could put him out there tomorrow in a live game with Josh Allen behind him and be confident he isn't getting your QB hurt. His pass pro is really impressive and he moves so well.

You don't think the Bills would be willing to do that for Brady? Spending on coaching and front office staff has never been a problem for Pegs previously. Our guys are pretty well remunerated compared to their peers generally.

And knows no more about football that the average fan on a message board.

While all of that is true it is similar to Ben Johnson. He has never made big money and indeed he doesn't even have a Josh Allen size guarantee that his offense will be decent again the following year and has turned jobs down the last two cycles at Carolina and then Washington because he wasn't convinced on ownership's vision. This isn't a great cycle of jobs. If the five available now are all that are coming I can well imagine a hot candidate deciding to keep his powder dry unless his is in a "lightening in a bottle" type situation where you think the chance won't come again.

It's a hard business model to make work. I wish him luck.

Ty's blog still going, huh?

To be clear I don't think Anaroumo sucks. I just think he is an average DC with an inflated reputation based on one really good day in an AFCCG. If you want to call that clutch coaching, sure, it was. But having your best day on the biggest stage is something. It is not everything. I think this as well though.

Even if you accept that as totally indicative all it says is he basically only does as well as his talent. I think Cincy are poorly coached on D most times I watch them and have done for a number of years.

Meh. I put that down to simple randomness. I don't think he suddenly remembers how to coach in January.

Meh. I think he is super overrated. Six seasons as DC in Cincy only one year in those six have they been top half of the league in either yards or points (2021 when they were top half for both). They have been bottom 7 in yards four times in six seasons. He had a truly great playoff adjustment at half time of that AFCCG against Kansas City going to the 3 man rush and intermediate flood concept and he totally befuddled Mahomes. That was some great coordinating. But people stick on that moment when the reality is most of his time there the defense has been poorly coached. They have lost some talent the last two seasons with Reader and the two safeties moving on But he still has Hendrikson and Hubbard and Hill and Hilton and Wilson... it's enough talent to make the defensive performance really disappointing. In a lot of ways Chicago is the best job open. Until you remember they are in a division with three of the best four teams in the conference.

This is an excellent breakdown. And that sideline play towards the end is yet another example of what I am talking about in terms of him playing to contact on the outside. When people said he doesn't seaparate we got told we were obsessed with 40 time. And sure, a handful were, I never was. I was talking about this stuff before the draft. Again in May. And again in October.

There were four downfield throws to him on the outside yesterday which he should have caught. If he gets 2/4 or 3/4 fine, but he came up with zero. And the reason is something that I pointed out on his film prior to the draft. When he is outside and he has a contested release he has a strong tendency to play to contact. He goes and feels for the DB and takes his positioning on the field off of that. This results in him losing leverage and essentially being "reactive" in the down rather than proactive and dictating to the DB. It's why I liked him more as a big slot. Because when he gets free releases - as you do much more in the slot - he dictates - he decides where he is going gets to his landmarks and boxes out any defenders that come into his space out. He does not do that outside, he plays to contact. @BADOLBILZ and I talked about it on here mid season and he speculated it could be a hangover from his basketball background. I know zero about basketball so I will take his word for it, but it makes sense if it's a learned habit. It is why so often outside it looks like he has a defender draped on him. He doesn't separate because he almost isn't trying to separate. He is trying to feel the defender and play off him. I talked to another poster after the draft about it too but he is one of the only shows up after losses guys and I can't remember his handle. It is something that is coachable. It can improve. But it is a major factor in his lack of separation and so it needs to improve fast if he is going to develop into anything more than a complimentary piece in an offense. I am still where I was pre-draft with him. If you are drafting him to replace and upgrade on Gabe Davis, I'm in. If you are drafting him to be a #1 type outside receiver, I'm out. Which means whenever this season comes to an end, under confetti or otherwise, the Bills have to work out what to do with Amari Cooper and at that #1 outside spot. Because "Keon will develop into that in year 2" is going to be a tremendously hard sell to some of us. When you add the struggles in the pass game to two penalties for false start / illegal formations.... it was a very rough day for Keon. The success they had with him pre-injury was using him a bit inside or in tight splits and getting him in the middle of the field for catch and runs. That is what I hope they get back to in the playoffs. Forcing balls to him on the boundary 4 or 5 times a game is a recipe for failure.

And that might have been the dumbest one of the year. After that I think two INTs bounced off receivers hands one was an arm punt... I don't remember any other "WTF Josh?" moments other than the opening day fumble which was totally on him. I think there was a bad read on a pick v Indy but the sort of thing every QB has from time to time. Honestly this may be reaching but it looked like a guy playing with a clear mind compared to all the dumb mistakes late 23 and early 24 when he had off the field stuff going on.

That's always been my thing. Not sure Josh is suited to a paint by numbers offense. But I don't think it is as big of a transition from what he has run well with Brady as it was from what he ran well with Daboll and early in the Dorsey reign. Add to that I don't think McDaniel is quite the hard ass about the scheme that his mentor Kyle Shanahan is. Watching some of the things he has let Tyler Huntley do in order to just move the ball in Tua's absences I think he might be more willing to lean into a Josh centric version of the Shanny stretch-zone WCO than just implanting his system lock stock and barrel. I think McDaniel is the best creative mind off that tree. Even more so than McVay. You have your LaFleurs and your Slowick and even O'Connell and the scheme is the scheme. I see McDaniel bring more of his own wrinkles to it. I think he is a very smart OC and so I'd be willing to take the risk that it doesn't mesh with Josh because if it does... I think you are making magic. So in answer to the OP's question - YES. Definitely Grier. McDaniel I think is over his skies as a Head Coach but he is smart. Good offensive brain, done a good job with Tua. I think he is a top 5 OC masquerading as a HC and you will always have a pretty decent floor with that combination. Grier sucks. All those picks he had at the start of this rebuild and his best three players are old, expensive vets: Hill, Armsted and Ramsey. Shambolic.

Yea he is still flawed. But he isn't a bust. Which he looked in New York and Carolina. Darnold was the one who was a backup in San Fran. Baker never was. He went Cleveland, Carolina (I think it is a rule everyone has to spend 3 games as QB of the Panthers) and then the Rams for a cup of coffee before signing in Tampa. He has just had a career year. Likely he will not match it again, but he is who he has always been to me. A good QB who with pieces around him can win you 9,10,11 games and make the playoffs.