BillsFan4

That was a good read. Thanks for sharing Yolo. Definitely seems like Beane and McDermott are very close. Interesting that it sounds like Beane had to be recruited to come here, too. Here is an article on Beane's appearance on Howard & Jermey this morning. It adds some context to McDermott & Beane's comments on the QB - http://www.wgr550.com/articles/news/just-mcdermott-beane-wont-fully-commit-taylor-bills-starting-qb

How could he come from the Lealie Frazier coaching tree? McDermott never even worked under Frazier, so I don't see how he can come from his tree (unless I am just misunderstanding what you are saying here). Usually when someone says a coach comes from another coach's tree it means that he was an assistant coach who was brought up and mentored by that head coach (which is one reason why everyone always says McDermott is from Andy Reid's coaching tree). LF was a defensive backs coach in Philly from '99 to '02. Sean McDermott was hired as a scout in '99. He was promoted to Andy Reid's assistant in 2000. He didn't even start working on the defensive side of the ball until '02 (the same year Frazier left). Then McDermott worked under Jim Johnson from '02 until '09 when JJ passed away. He then took over the defense and ran that same aggressive 4-3 under zone JJ defense in Philly, and took basically that same (aggressive) system with him to Carolina (although with less zone blitzes (from what I read Rivera limited the blitzing)). Even the Rivera influence I'm not sure about. I've already went into detail on why I see Andy Reid's influence all over this team already, so I won't get into that again. But as far as McD's defense in Carolina, I still see more of Jim Johnson/Sean McDermott Philly defense than I do Ron Rivera's. But Rivera hasn't coached a 4-3 defensive scheme since '05-'06, so it's been a while since I seen his scheme (and it was married with Lovie Smith's D scheme at the time). Rivera had switched to a 3-4 defense in his time as a DC since his days in Chicago, and obviously that scheme was much different than what was run in Carolina.

There were a lot of reports that the Bills - McDermott, Monos, Pegula (and Whaley I believe) met with every single top QB prospect in this draft, worked them out, had dinner with them etc. Some they met with 2 (or more) times. I am not going to speculate on whose decision it was. It may very well have been Sean's but I don't know that. Everything the Bills have said is that they make group decisions, though. I also don't know that they will draft a QB next year. Like I said in my last post, plans tend to be fluid anyway. I was just passing on the information that I had read here.

I would not say I am extremely optimistic, but I am definitely more than mildly optimistic. I also don't expect the playoffs this year. So I didn't vote for any of the listed options... lol I am optimistic by nature though. I tend to always look for the positives in any situation. I think it makes life much better, in general. It has been a whole lot of change though, which is what most of us have wanted for a long time. None of us really know how it will work out, but the change alone makes me hopeful. We know for sure that the way they had been doing things simply didn't work. The front office and coaching staff's always seemed to be on a different planet. It seemed like the MO was to give a coaching staff 1-3 years and then throw them under the bus. To me, it seemed like the front offices main job priority was to ensure their own job security by passing the blame onto the coaches. So, I think having a front office and coaching staff that seem to be in lock step and are completely tied together is a huge step forward alone. McDermott was also my first choice as far as coaches go, so I was thrilled with his hire. I've been a fan of his for a while now. I really love the staff he's assembled so far, and many of his traits and priorities. He has put together a coaching staff known for being teachers of the game. I think he hired 2 of the very best line coaches in the NFL (Waufle and Castillo). Dennison was a great OC hire IMO. Not 100% sold on Leslie Frazier, but he is well respected in the NFL and I expect to be running Sean McDermott's defensive scheme, so we will see... I als love that they seem to be focusing on the little details. I think that is something a lot of great coaches have in common. I see a lot of traits of great coaches in Sean McDermott. Hopefully in time he will prove to be one of them... As of now, I think that this is the best coaching staff, from top to bottom, that the Bills have had in a very long time. I honestly didn't know enough about Brandon Beane to say much either way. I knew he was very well regarded in Carolina and around the NFL but that's about it. The more I've seen/read, the more excited I am getting. I am definitely not expecting playoffs this year. I think that they are going to take their time building this team from the ground up. So I am willing to have patience. All I want to see this season are steps in the right direction and growth from our players. I really want to see these guys get some time to build this right. IMO, bad teams stay bad by constantly switching coaches and scheme. I want to see some continuity for s change.

Good stuff. Thanks for sharing.

People were saying that Leroi said that the plan was to go after a QB next year, too. I haven't been here that long but Leroi has been dead on with almost all the information I've seen him share. From what I can gather, he works for the Bills. None of us know what the plan is for sure. Plan's tend to be fluid anyway. Maybe Peterman or Cardale or Tyrod grab the starting job by the horns this season and never let go (however unlikely that is). The Bills did put a lot of effort into scouting the available QBs, and they did still take a shot at a QB in this draft, they didn't just ignore the position. They obviously felt that none were worth the #10 pick (although I read here yesterday that they likely would have drafted Trubisky had he been there at 10, but refused to sell the farm for him). But at least they are aware that QB is a need and are putting in the time to evaluate the prospects. None of us control the Bills or what they do. All we can do is sit back and hope they get it right. Endlessly crusading for a QB that was already drafted by another team does no good (not referring to you specifically, just saying). As I've also said before, the Chiefs were simply in a different position than the Bills were this year. Andy Reid and John Dorsey have spent the past 4 years building up that team and not drafting any QBs (except for one 5th round pick in 4 years...). They were in a position where the last big need they had to put them over the top was at the QB position. Reid and Dorsey also have quite a lot of job security and can afford to take a gamble on a project QB at 10. They were also bringing that project QB into a much better position than what he would have been in with the Bills. They have a much stronger team to surround him with. The Bills were not in that same position.

I can't really say I know enough about Schoen to say much of anything one way or another. All I know is the little I've read since I seen we were interested in him yesterday. But from what I've read, he seems to be considered a very hard working up and comer with a bright future, and a pretty good eye for talent. One other thing I do like - he has a lot of detailed knowledge of the inner workings of one of our division rivals. That's never a bad thing! You can say that again... I like that we aren't running Ralph's old boy's club anymore, though. This franchise needs a new way of thinking desperately. Maybe these young guys will help set some new trends in the NFL, instead of just trying to follow the old ones. I could see this being a progressive, forward thinking front office. The NFL seems to rapidly be getting younger with some of the hires this offseason. Hopefully it will work out and we will be ahead of the curve for once...

"Garrett will see Smith again. Defensive coordinator Gregg Williams knows Smith and the NFL Network reported that Smith will visit the Browns at minicamp or training camp." I wouldn't mind seeing Bruce Smith at Bills training camp...

Ryan O'Reilly wants more from himself, Sabres - https://www.nhl.com/news/buffalos-ryan-oreilly-looking-for-bounceback/c-289411878 Interesting read. Sounds like Okposo really stepped up as a leader at the end of the year. ROR really seems to respect him. I've heard him talk about Okposo multiple times now. Also sounds like ROR really wants to step up as a leader. I've heard him say this before though. Hopefully he does this time. IMO We need some guys to step up as leaders and hold people accountable on a daily basis. There were too many guys doing their own thing last year.

Lol. Keep proving my point. There's no way you are a 40 year old. You are some little kid.

I am more convinced than ever that you are some 12 year old kid. Either that or you only come on here and post when you are drunk. Maybe not though. But whatever the reason for the way you post, It's sad. Edit - also it's pretty ironic. You had to have Jeff make your case for you on the trick shot video and on why you like Mahomes. I have yet to see you post any rational, well thought out reasons why you like Mahomes. You just say how he's a hall of famers and will win Super Bowls, and just forward posts of what Jeff said...

Interesting fact - Whaley and the Bills did not start truly scouting underclassmen until they declared for the draft... A mostly outdated practice in the NFL these days. Hopefully that'll change under the new GM. Matthew Fairburn @MatthewFairburn Doug Whaley told me the Bills don't dig into underclassmen until they declare. He explained why here: http://www.newyorkupstate.com/buffalo-bills/index.ssf/2017/01/doug_whaley_explains_buffalo_bills_philosophy_on_scouting_underclassmen.html

Honestly, I'll be kind of happy if he decides not to come here. I never thought he was very good in Carolina. I get that he knows the scheme, but I think that we can find better better safety depth between now and the start of the season.

I sure hope so! I truly believe that bad teams stay bad by constantly changing coaches and visions. I'd love to see what the Bills can do with the same coaching staff and the same scheme for a number of years.

I'd say it tends to fall into more of these 2 categories - 1) those who really can't be lumped into a single, narrow category that enjoy talking about all things Bills and have many differing opinions on all Bills related topics. 2) those on a crusade, who only really seem to enjoy talking about a couple of small areas of the Bills and feel the need to constantly keep bludgeoning people over he head with their same opinion over and over again.

It was a lot more than just John Norman though. They had to replace 3/4 of their starting secondary from the previous season. They were starting multiple rookies in the secondary. They had a bunch of key injuries to some of their best player, like Luke Keuchly and Cam Newton (concussion and then shoulder injury) and key players on the defensive line. Cam Newton regressed terribly, after having his best year ever in 2015. Their offensive line regressed terribly, and the passing game went way downhill because of it. The defensive line regressed badly too. They went from being at the top of the NFL for sacks and QB pressure all the way to near the bottom of the NFL. That will put extra pressure on even the best secondary. They also lost their #1 CB in that game against Atlanta, and Atlanta lit up a bunch of teams last season. Their offense was incredible. They torched the best secondary in the league right after that (Denver). The Panthers secondary was actually playing well before that game. Losing John Norman was a small part of the problem, but not even close to the only reason why that team regressed so much.

John Dorsey actually said in his press conference that he didn't think they needed to move any higher than #10 to get Mahomes. From what I read the team they were most concerned about was New Orleans at 11.

I was left very impressed by Beane's opening press conference. Much more impressive than I initially thought when hired. The guy is a fantastic public speaker. It would be a crime if they don't let him talk to the press more.

that is HIGHLY debatable... Are you sure you're even a fan of the Bills? You keep calling everyone that supports their hometown team losers (and anyone who doesn't agree with the Exact move you wanted the Bills to make in the 1st round). Every single one of us Bills fans wants this team to be a winner. Every one of us wants great QB for the Bills. Just because everyone isn't sure (or doesn't think) that Mahomes will be a multi Super Bowl, hall of fame type QB doesn't mean we don't. nobody can know with any certainty what he will be. 1st round QBs bust at over a 50% rate. NFL teams, with dozens of people who get paid to do this for a living - people who spend years scouting these players and digging into their personal lives and gathering every imaginable detail - get it wrong constantly. To post your opinion on him like its a fact, declare him a hall of fame type QB and say that whatever team drafts him will win multiple Super Bowls is just silly.

I was excited when I read this at the bottom of a WGR article about Botterill's press conference and wanted to share - http://www.wgr550.com/articles/news/botterill-won-his-first-press-conference "I’m only adding this to the article because I know many of you have had a lot of concern about Kyle Okposo. I ran into him and his family today and he looked great. I just briefly asked him how he felt and he said MUCH better. Forget about player/media, it was very good to see him out and about and looking so good." I also recently read something about what happened to Okposo may have just been a bad reaction to concussion meds he was on. That would kind of make sense if true. It could explain why he was in the neuro ICU. Hopefully whatever it was is behind him now and he can go back to his life/career with no ill effects. That whole Okposo situation was some scary stuff, though.

I thought there was more to his issues than just smoking pot. Pretty sure I read somewhere that he had issues drinking and using other drugs too. Sounded like the kid was a bit of a mess.

Nice! Nice! That would be great if he is a full go already. Gives him some time to really step up the training regime before training camp. Really looking forward to seeing what this kid can do on the field this season.

I don't think we can judge what McDermott will do on 4th down by what Rivera did in Carolina. I'd rather look at what McDermott has said and done himself. If you look at his defenses, McDermott has always played an aggressive defense, and I would be somewhat surprised if he didn't continue to do that in Buffalo. Here's a few quotes on McDermott's defense in Carolina - http://www.newyorkupstate.com/buffalo-bills/index.ssf/2017/03/what_nfc_coaches_said_about_buffalo_bills_coach_sean_mcdermott_and_his_defense.html Kyle Shanahan - "Sean does a great job," Shanahan said. "They're always aggressive, they're always sound. You know they're going to attack. They're not going to sit on their heels. They're going to be going right at you. Sean does a good job even going against him when he was in Philly. He switches up his scheme a lot and he's always a tough guy to go against." Pete Carroll - "They were really good," Carroll said. "They posed problems. Very aggressive, well-rounded, really good scheme. Good mix oriented, pressured well. It's a good group. I'm glad that we know it. We've played against him a lot, so I'm familiar with that." Dirk Koetter - "..... He was always going to try to exploit your weaknesses. He did a great job of attacking your protections with his blitzes. Very, very sound defense. Rarely out of position....." Here's what McDermott said himself - http://billswire.usatoday.com/2017/03/28/sean-mcdermott-buffalo-bills-analytics-fourth-down/ Sean McDermott says his personality is aggressive when it comes to 4th down. "If we're going down we're going down guns blazing." We won't really know anything until we see his head coaching style this coming season. So as of now it's all speculation. But looking his history as a DC and what he has said in his time as Bills HC, it leads me to believe that he will be aggressive. It's not like this is necessarily the mark of a great coach anyway. There are a lot more important things to being a head coach than whether or not he is aggressive or conservative.

Great post. Interesting stuff. I thought this did a very good job of explaining why McDermott wouldn't need to know Carolina's final draft board to know he may have needed to jump them to ensure that he got the player he wanted. I still think this whole thing about a leaked draft board is ridiculous anyway. Teams jump other teams all the time because they have nothing more than an inkling that team might take the player they want. Where as McDermott had much more inside knowledge of the team he was jumping, who they scouted, who they liked (etc), than is usually the case.

We will see. There's really no way to know for sure until we see him coach. But McDermott ran a much more aggressive Jim Johnson type scheme in Carolina and Philly than what Frazier ran out on his own. It'll be interesting to see which way it goes with the 2 of them working together.