GunnerBill

I think it was supposed to be wider than just GMs. It was how does the football operation work. But given that I'm slightly surprised the Bills are not higher. I absolutely think Howie Roseman is the best GM in football when it comes to talent evaluation and roster building. But I can argue the Bills overall front office - coherence with ownership, coherence with coaching, strategic decision making etc is superior. Roseman's fallen out with 3 coaches and despite their run in 2022 I'm not sold that Sirianni was a great coaching hire either.

I mean I took a TON of heat at the time for saying I thought it was concerning. Back then the consensus here was a coach showing fire is a good thing. But it was an uncontrolled rage. And coaches who lose control lose their guys. By the middle of his second season his guys were asking the Head Coach to fire him per other posters on this forum. It doesn't surprise me one bit.

I do think Beane might have crushed day 3 of this draft. Gable (injury sucks) has looked fantastic in pre-season and limited reps, Solomon has a ton of talent, Davis is coming on slowly. I can see a route to all 3 of them being starters for the Bills in two seasons time. They are at worst solid depth players as rookies. Need to see more as we go from SVPG but hopefully he can add his name to that list. But the other thing the list in your post above shows is how well the Bills coach and develop players. Their Monday to Saturday coaching is among the best in football, without a doubt. I look at Shakir and Williams. Both in their rookie years struggled. Shakir was running into coverage rather than into space, and Williams last year was like a guy whose head was on the wrong way round, just spinning and smashing into things with little feel for the position. Now Khalil looks like this team's best receiver and Williams just had his best game as a Bill. It is tempting to think players just arrive on campus from college able to perform as they end up performing. But it is not true. The development of both those guys is testament to coaching. And then the Cam Lewis, Ja'Marcus Ingram, Alec Anderson, Baylon Spector crew... developed from UDFAs and 7th round picks to guys you can rely on to be where they need to be on Sunday... add them to Levi Wallace and Tyrel Dodson and Ike Boettger and Ryan Bates and Dane Jackson.... this regime has been turning throw away guys into contributors for as long as they've been here. I think they deserve more credit for it.

Friday morning reflections!!! 1. Flagfest! Seriously makes a game borderline unwatchable and while some of it is just sloppy football that needs calling out I thought that crew was very ticky tacky. A couple of the illegal contact calls on defense and holding calls on offense are real technical fouls I think you need to let go for the sake of having a watchable game. 2. I'm really not sure where the Cowboys think their roster is at. They have the worst running back situation in the NFL, which negates what should be a strength - the run blocking of their offensive line and forces them to throw with only really CeeDee as a viable option to throw to. I've seen criticism here and elsewhere of Dak, and sure, we all know Dak is overpaid, but I don't think this is a Quarterback problem it's a roster problem. Their offensive roster build is a mess. 3. On defense they also are underperforming their talent right now. The reason for that is they made a pretty significant schematic change going from Dan Quinn to Mike Zimmer. Quinn is about smaller, faster guys, penetrative defensive linemen and long corners who play with good instincts in largely zone coverage (think not to dissimilar to what McDermott runs in Buffalo). Mike Zimmer, while still a 4-3 base guy, likes big bodies on the defensive line, aggressive linebackers who attack the line of scrimmage and physical DBs that can play man coverage. 4. Watching the Giants offense is like watching too many drought Bills teams. The FG they kick to make it 15-12 from the Dallas 3 at the start of the 3rd is a FG decision I feel like I saw the Bills have to make so many times in that era. "We might never get here again so 4th and 3 we should go" as against "if we go for it and don't convert, this becomes a two score game and we are done." I thought they should have gone for it, I understand kicking it. I am delighted not to live in that world anymore. 5. Malik Nabers is legit. There were people I spoke to in the draft community who had him as WR1 over Harrison. I didn't I had Harrison #1 and Nabers #2 but I had him as an elite prospect and a gap after the two of them to Odunze. To be playing this well on an offense where he is all they have is a testament to his abilities. If the Giants can find a way to get him a Quarterback next season he will be unplayable.

We will beat Baltimore. I am very confident for Sunday. The Ravens are more Lamar dependent right now than the Bills are Allen depenedent (imagine saying that two years ago) and history tells me McDermott and co are pretty good at holding Lamar in check.

No. They weren't.

So it turns out people are talking about him?

It was not so much that I wasn't in favour. I was pretty critical of Dorsey going back to the middle of his first year for the vanilla nature of his offence that stressed high end execution when he didn't have much high end talent to work with. I'd have dispensed with him after the 2023 season but I was surprised by the timing of his firing. I wouldn't necessarily have done it when the Bills did. However, having heard some of what was going on inside, his players lobbying for a change etc, it makes more sense to me. I've been pretty optimistic on Joe Brady from the start. And so far so good.

Yea Im in on Cooper.

I think that is right. I am less sure that by week 9 the analytics will be showing that DHop is winning those routes. I have only seen snippets of him this year but he has definitely looked like he has lost something. Maybe some of it is "want to" as much as "can do" but that is my pause for thought. At a cheap price I'm in. But if that price has to escalate to convince them to eat money... that's where I get a little more wary.

They are only going to do that if what you are offering them is enticing. Why restructure to eat money and then trade him for a 6th? Doesn't make any sense. Now if someone is giving them a 3rd? Then I can see it. For a rebuilding team is a 3rd worth eating a few mil for? Yes. I am just not sold he is worth that at this point but I haven't sat down and watched a Titans game beginning to end yet this season.

His base is $8.2m even if we trade for him half way through the year that is likely to be $4m plus. That is every penny we have left in cap. I don't think that is doable. If it came for a throw away pick and manageable on the cap - sure.

Christian Wade Virginia Tech

The problem was never the philosophy. Almost all the top teams do it. It was the talent identification. Size and level of competition. But I agree his talent should have been gone at least a round earlier even with those questions.

Good memory.

I absolutely think he is in line to get paid after the season. He is playing at a really high level and I don't think you want to go into his final year without getting something done. I could see it as a summer extension (similar to Spencer Brown) rather than a spring on. Those smaller rookie deals don't offer much scope for cap savings when you extend them so it is easier to get through FA and the draft and then look at where you sit before putting a contract structure together. At the moment there are basically threee tiers of AAV for CB contracts. A small group of $21m plus guys - Surtain, Ramsey, Alexander and at some point next spring Sauce will reset that market. Then a tier of guys in the $19m territory and then a big gap to the $13-14m guys. If Inwas Benford's agent I'd be pitching him in that $19m group with Sneed and Jaylon Johnson. The Bills might hope the fact he doesn't quite have the name value yet might save them a $1m or so AAV. But if he can snag a few more INTs this year... get 4 or 5 for example then that ball production will demand compensating.

Dude can ball.

Yes.

Barbara started early this morning....

Agree. I said it in the GDT on Monday night. His ball placement on those moving laterally short throws has really improved even compared to 2020 and 2021 when he was already an elite QB but struggled at times with those plays. It is part of the massive improvement in YAC we have seen. It isn't all of it - type of receivers and type of route play a part too. But those sorts of throws are an area Josh has improved even since his breakout.

Yea and I feel the way you do about Tyrod about Fitz. He just played on much worse Bills teams.

I know you don't agree but that is how I felt about Tyrod. I hated watching the Bills those years. He was enthusiasm sapping. When you know a guy isn't it and he is being propped up it is depressing.

And concussions / general injury history. I always liked Edwards though. I had a 2nd on him the year he came out.

He is cheap. His relative lack of financial clout is the reason he is cheap but he is cheap.

I think a few points: 1. You are seeing some - through two weeks 80+% of the Saints offensive success was running and play action pass. But equally the master at stopping that style is Vic Fangio and there are a lot of NFL defenses at the moment trying to run his scheme which takes some of that away with a lot of old school bear defense looks. 2. There are not many teams willing to go under centre a lot because it makes it hard for them to execute everything they want to in their offense and shotgun play actions don't tend to drag linebackers up in quite the same way because it is easier to keep their eyes on the football. 3. Offensive lines man, offensive lines. I think part of the reason the offensive football is so dink and dunk at the moment is the general standard of pass protection I have seen through three weeks is absolutely brutal. And that is making teams reluctant to have their QB under center and turning his back to the rush too much. We are being spoilt by good OL play in Buffalo at the moment. There are not a ton of fanbases experiencing that.