BillsFan4

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.

Excited about the Botterill hire. Seems like a smart and well rounded GM candidate. You never know about a GM until you see the moves/trades he makes and give things time to play out. But I am definitely hopeful about this hire. Penguins fans were pretty upset about losing him too, that's usually a good sign. They were really hoping we'd take Bill Guerin instead...

I'm not so sure !cDermott is conservative. I guess we won't know for sure until we see him actually coach a game as HC... But, he learned his defensive system from Jim Johnson, and ran a very aggressive Jim Johnson style defense in Carolina. He also said himself that he is aggressive by nature and will be aggressive as a coach. Said that's what players like, they want to go for the win. Like I said, time will tell. Nope. Jim Johnson.

I was kind of referring to how Andy Reid got hired in KC and asked for a specific GM to be hired to work with him and McDermott did the same in Buffalo. But you can clearly see how big of an influence Andy Reid has had on Sean McDermott in almost everything he's said and done... Andy Reid disciples and ties are all over this coaching staff, obviously starting with McDermott (who has said multiple times that Reid was his biggest influence). Leslie Frazier, another Reid protege from his coaching tree. Juan Castillo, who worked with Andy Reid for 17 years (1995-2012) David Cully is another long time Andy Reid guy - worked with Reid from 1999 to 2017. Was his assistant head coach his entire time in KC. Chad Hall played for Andy Reid. Gill Byrd worked for Dirk Koetter, who's a long time friend of Andy Reid. They came up through the college ranks together going all the way back to SF state and Missouri (and Byrd was rumored to be recommended by Reid). McDermott's (reported) first choice for OC (and reportedly the first offensive coordinator McDermott went after) was Brad Childress, another Andy Reid protege and current KC Chiefs coach. He then hired Rick Dennison, who runs a west coast style of offense like Andy Reid (and IIRC who Reid was rumored to suggest to McDermott). Then as far as his coaching, managerial and team building philosophies - you can see Andy Reid's fingerprints all over that too. How McDermott takes notes on everything - practices, games, scheduling, every conversation with other coaches, ex players, etc. (that's an Andy Reid trade mark). His extreme attention to detail, and going over every possible scenario (another Reid trade mark). The one voice, everyone in unison stuff. The emphasis he puts on team first, and the team building exercises he believes in. How he believes coaching is all about relationships (with players and fellow coaches). How the main emphasis of the coaching staff he's assembled was on finding coaches who are very good teachers first and foremost. How they want to focus on details and execution. How McDermott said he wants to emphasize controlling the line of scrimmage and build strong offensive and defensive lines (and hired 2 of the best line coaches in the NFL). I could keep going on and on about the similarities but I've already typed a book. you get the point, if you've even read this far... lol.

I agree with mostly everything you said, except the bolded statement. Andy Reid and John Dorsey were both hired in KC back in Jan. 2013 and they did not draft a serious QB prospect until their 5th year/draft with the team. This is the first time they took a 1st round QB. They have only taken 1 QB besides Mahomes in that entire time (Aaron Murray in the 5th round, 163rd overall back in 2014). So it seems to me that took their sweet time getting a good QB prospect in the fold. They built the rest of the team up over the previous 4 years first.

The reason I think it screws Blount is now he can't wait out a contract. Where as if they had t done this, he could have sat and waited for an injury or hole to open up during preseason (etc). But now if he remains u signed thru July 22nd, he can't play for anyone but the Patriots in 2017 (and they aren't likely to give him more than the $1.1M tender). I agree though on Belichick. He is on another level. I hate him and the Patriots, but man do I respect his coaching abilities and knowledge of every damn rule and loophole.

Yeah I think it's pretty clear McDermott is modeling the Bills after Andy Reid and his philosophies. I get wanting to see a more extensive GM search. I can't say I wouldn't have liked to see that. But there's a lot worse coaches to model things after.... I'll be pretty damn happy if McDermott and Beane turn out to be anything like Reid and Dorsey in KC. I sure like it better than the jumbled mess of crap that has been the Bills front office and coaching staff the last decade + At least we seem to have a clear plan now, and it's brought about a lot of meaningful change at One Bills Drive. Ralph's old boy's club lifers are almost all gone now. Only what, 2 left? And I think - is on his way out the door momentarily, and the other I ink has been more/less neutered, so...