BillsFan4

He may be a head case, I haven't followed him closely enough to have any idea. But this article sure doesn't do anything to prove that he is. If anything, it does the opposite... lol

Is this still a thing? Don't you think we would have heard of a complaint, or at the very least rumblings of an accusation from Carolina by now? All indications are that Carolona got the offensive lineman that they wanted, even though we jumped them. And Again, teams jump other teams in the draft every single year because they believe that am is targeting a player they want. We even directly traded with a team doing that this year - Kansas City. They thought New Orleans wanted Mahomes and they were right. Oh no, maybe the NFL will strip Kansas City's first round pick next year... Bills are screwed now, since we hold it. They're taking our 1at round pick AND the 1st KC traded to us (joking, of course)

https://mobile.twitter.com/BlackBearsFB/status/860464101910233088 Bills invite QB Dan Collins to rookie mini camp. I'm guessing he's just an arm for rookie camp. I don't see him supplanting Cardale, Peterman or Yates. I guess he could possibly replace Woodrum, though.

I don't think so. I was looking too, because I was going to post same thing you did. lol

What makes you say that? I haven't really seen anything yet from Cardale in college or the NFL that makes me believe that he'd be a good NFL starter, let alone get the Bills to the playoffs this season. He has some potential, but has a very long way to go before I'd even think of starting him.

Are you talking total yards, or passing yards? If you're talking passing yards, there's a reason it's considered low on the list of measures to evaluate a QB. Passing yards isn't just what a QB throws for. It also includes the yards a receiver gets after the catch, and some offenses are better designed than others for YAC. Plus it doesn't take into account passing attempts either. For example, Greg Roman's offense has always been near the bottom of the league in YAC (all 4 years in SF were near bottom of the NFL and his 2 years in Buffalo I believe we were dead last in YAC), and that's with a number of different QBs. I can't really just put the blame on his QBs either, because they were near the bottom in YAC with Alex Smith, who then goes to KC and is near the top of the NFL in YAC. I think yards per attempt and air yards are a better measure to look at as far as passing yards go, because those stats don't have YAC added in. I definitely agree that Tyrod has to improve his passing game though, that is for sure.

Darnold and Rosen were gone ahead of our pick in their mock draft (Darnold #1 to Cleveland & Rosen #3 to NYJ). But I agree. As of now, Darnold or Rosen would be my main targets, with Allen coming in closely behind, and Falk is very enticing too. A lot can happen between now and next season, though. Let's see what they do this year, first. I definitely want more of an accurate pocket passer than a mobile, runner/athlete type QB (and the Peterman pick + what McDermott said afterwards has me hopeful for the first time in a while that the Bills might actually prioritize that).

Doing what, exactly? Did he say?

McDermott was under Jim Johnson almost his entire time in Philly ( from '98-'09 when Johnson died) and He runs that aggressive Jim Johnson style defense. Edit - what he said: Agree. I'd say Johnson and Reid definitely seem to be the 2 biggest influences on McDermott, from what we've seen so far (from his time as DC in Philly & Carolina + his short time as Bills HC).

He worked directly with Andy Reid for much longer than he did with Rivera. He was hired by Philly in '98 and promoted to assistant to the head coach in '99. He then worked with Reid until 2010/11, where he climbed the ranks all the way to DC. He is much more of an Andy Reid and Jim Johnson protege than anything else. I read a story that said Andy Reid took a special interest in McDermott right away and stole him from the scouting ranks to be his assistant almost immediately, where he then worked with Reid for 11+ years. Ron Rivera worked under Reid too (Reid was part of the reason McDermott got hired in Carolina). Leslie Frazier was another Reid protege. Reid also recommended Dennison to McDermott. It seems pretty clear that Andy Reid is McDermotts biggest influence. McDermott has said himself that Andy Reid was his mentor and who he learned the most from.

I thought that was an interesting read. Thanks for sharing.

Hey, no problem! Glad I gave you a bit more optimism about McDermott.

Sean McDermott has learned under some great coaches. He was an Andy Reid and Jim Johnson protege in Philly. Then learned from Ron Rivera for 6 years in Carolina. He has had a top 10 defense in 4 of the past 5 years (which includes 4 straight years from '12-'15, the only DC to do that during that time span), and he has had a top 12 defense in 6 of his 8 years as a DC. Carolina made steady improvements under him, too. - They were 25th in sacks his first year, 9th his second year and were ranked #1 in the NFL by his 3rd year - 27th in total points allowed & points per game his first year, and ranked #2 in the NFL by his 3rd year. - 25th in rushing yards allowed his 1st year and ranked #2 by his 3rd year. - 20th in interceptions in his 1st year and tied for 5th in Interceptions by his 3rd year. - 20th in receiving yards per game in his 1st year, to 11th by his 3rd year - 28th in total yards per game in his 1st year, to 2nd in YPG by his 3rd year He's done all this with some major player turn over, too, and he's helped develop a number of mid to late round draft picks. For example, Josh Norman was a 5th round draft pick who developed into a top 3 CB under McDermott. I also like that he is very detail oriented, and puts major emphasis on teaching how to properly execute plays/scheme. He's not just telling guys what to do, he's telling them why and showing them how. He has been very good at getting guys to play technically sound football. He also puts major emphasis on the line of scrimmage. He wants a dominant O and D line, and hired 2 of the best line coaches in the NFL (Castillo and Waufle). He is smart, always seems to be learning and evolving too, and he's a grinder. He's the first guy in the building every day and the last one to leave. I just think the Sean McDermott has a lot of the qualities that you look for in successful head coaches. This is the first Bills HC I have been truly excited about in a long while. I think he's the first guy in a long time that has legitimately Earned this Bills head coaching job on his past performances. I have been a McDermott fan for years though, so I am probably somewhat biased. He is a first time head coach, so whether or not he's in over his head I don't know. But I believe he was the longest tenured coordinator without a HC job, so he's put in his time. There will probably be some growing pains, but I think he will be successful when all is said and done.Like the Steelers said when they hired Mike Tomlin - hire a smart guy and give him the time and resources to get it right. I truly feel that the Bills got the right guy, now they just have to give him the time and resources to get it right. Here is a good read on McDermott, if you're interested - http://www.espn.com/blog/carolina-panthers/post/_/id/21796/two-truths-and-a-lie-make-sean-mcdermott-a-great-defensive-coordinator Here's what other NFC coaches said about him and his defense - http://www.newyorkupstate.com/buffalo-bills/index.ssf/2017/03/what_nfc_coaches_said_about_buffalo_bills_coach_sean_mcdermott_and_his_defense.html More player + coach comments - http://www.buffalobills.com/news/article-1/What-theyre-saying-NFL-personalities-weigh-in-on-new-Bills-coach-Sean-McDermott/6b693d86-92b9-4992-b4bd-8d97bcbd80b6 And one more from Kurt Coleman (who played for McD in Philly and Carolina) - http://www.torontosun.com/2017/01/27/qa-panthers-coleman-on-strengths-of-new-bills-coach-mcdermott His bio (from Carolina Panthers) - http://www.panthers.com/team/coaches/sean-mcdermott/4fdf89fd-ccb4-4ce0-a5d6-b29026712d99

He's only making $6M this year. He is worth that. They want to see him actually perform consistently on the field before deciding to pay him $13.2M, double what he's making now. I believe that would take up roughly 1/3 or more of the available cap space the Bills have in 2018 (I've seen it as $32M at spotrack or $42M at overthecap). Plus, they don't have a replacement for him right now, but that could potentially change by the start of next season. Or Sammy could prove by then that he is worth franchise tagging or signing to an extension... Just because they didn't pick up his 5th year option doesn't mean that they are done with him and ready to move on right now, either. McDermott seems intent on making everyone actually earn their spot, and I am all for that. Put up or shut up time... To be clear, I love Sammy Watkins and I think he has all the potential in the world. But I'd like to see that potential translate to consistent performance on the field.

@john_wawrow For what it's worth, Watkins is motivated by the the #Bills' decision to not pick up 5th-year option. He's on track to be ready for camp.

Jeffrey Littman when the Bills were sold to Pegula. Him and Mary Owen left to run the Ralph Silson Foundation. I read somewhere that he actually got like 1% of the Bills sale price (but I'm not sure if thats true or not). Overdorf and Brandon are still there, though. I'd be pretty surprised if Overdorf kept his job once a new GM is hired, but we will see. I believe this is his 31st year with the Bills (I think he was hired in 1986). Russ Brandon is never going anywhere, it appears.

Well said. Totally agree.

I guess you've never listened to WGR, or Bucky & Sully show, or Buffalo News podcasts, or read the local media if you think people don't disagree with Bills moves. They dedicate entire shows to roasting the Bills and if anyone tried to call and disagree they jump down that callers throat. As far as this message board, people disagree with Bills moves all the time. They don't get lambasted for that, from what I've seen. People get lambasted for writing ridiculous opinions that make little to no sense.

That's what I figured. Thanks.

McDermott isn't building a team around Tyrod. He is just our bridge QB. If you're hiring a GM to fit a 2 year bridge QB, that doesn't seem like a very smart move to me... Also, If the Peterman pick is any indication, McDermott wants more of an accurate, anticipatory pocket passer. Beane is supposed to know the QB position well. Maybe he's the guy to help us find our elusive franchise QB?

And he said that Jordan Mills was good last year.

Question - can't the Bills pick up his 5th year option now, and then rescind it before March, when it becomes guaranteed, if they change their mind? I believe they can IIRC. I am not sure if they can rescind it if he were to get injured again, though. Does anyone know for sure how that works?

Correct. They can only block lateral moves, not promotions. Since Beane is an assistant GM, this would be a promotion (assuming he was given control of the 53 man roster). They only way Carolina could try to block the move is if Beane wasn't going to be given control of the 53 man roster, because then they could argue it was a lateral move. Here's an article specifically referring to Beane & the Bills - http://www.charlotteobserver.com/sports/nfl/carolina-panthers/article147912534.html

Right. Nothing wrong with evaluating the entire organization and seeing what works and what doesn't before making drastic, sweeping changes. Plus, they were brand new owners. Seems like it would be hard to just fire everyone immediately. Its not like they have experience running an NFL franchise. Sure, they could rush and hire some czar that the NFL recommended to them. But would you want to do that? Just hire some guy that you don't really know or trust to come in and make all these drastic changes to your organization? I wouldn't. I'd want to take my time, get an idea of how things work in this organization, as well network with other NFl owners/execs and gather as much information as possible on how the best teams are run, then start making changes once I know exactly what I want my organization to look/run like. I think finding and hiring McDermott is also a big reason for the changes coming now. The Pegula's seem to have finally found someone that they really trust to help them make the necessary changes. They also found a guy with a very clear vision for the Bills from top to bottom, and the courage to make the necessary changes to bring that vision to light.

Exactly. McDermott knows that organization very well and was there when Carolina was scouting this year's draft. Why wouldn't he use that info to his advantage? Especially if he didn't fully trust our (now fired) scouting staff. Plus, teams jump other teams every single year because they have some type of info/hunch that team will draft the player they want. Like Kansas City just this year - they traded with us to get 10 because they were convinced New Orleans would take Mahomes, and come to find out after the draft NO did in fact love Mahomes and would have likely drafted him. Does that mean KC had a spy in NO office? Of course not.