BillsFan4

Ok, we've all read you saying this 1000 times now. We get it. Just FYI, here is the code of conduct on this board, written by the owner, for new BBMB members. I'd suggest reading this. Here's a short excerpt - http://forums.twobillsdrive.com/topic/192340-bbmb-brief-orientation/?do=findComment&comment=4263778 "The issue we probably have the most trouble with is "crusading". The bottom line here is that there isn't a single poster on this board that has the power to make any change with the team. And because of that, there is no reason to try and make every single person agree with you by bludgeoning everyone with the same opinion endlessly. Make your point once. Make it twice. Make it when appropriate. Just don't make the same point in every thread, every day, day after day. It just pisses people off."

Siemen is not available. He will be competing for the starting job this season, as per new HC. And he also said that no decision will be made for a long time on who is the starter. And I don't think Foles had that comparable of play to Tyrod in his last chances to start. Yes, he had 1 good year for Chip Kelly back in 2013. But outside of that, he hasn't been all that great. I'm guessing you will say otherwise though, so we will just have to agree to disagree. I'd easily take Tyrod at $9.7M cap hit over Foles at $6M for sure.

This is where I'm at now too. It's not uncommon for there to be changes made to scouting staffs when there are new people are hired. Who knows, maybe Whaley is fully on board with some changes to the scouting staff. Let's just wait and see what happens.

I would actually argue that bringing Tyrod back Was the smart move. Dumping Tyrod back in March, months before the draft, with at least 4 very QB needy teams picking in front of us and who knows how many teams looking to jump us, we don't even know which QBs will even be left on the board when we pick. What if the top QBs are gone? Then what? I also don't think betting the start of your head coaching career on a rookie QB is a smart move either. What coach wants to bank their first head coaching gig, a job that they've been busting their ass for the past 10-15+ years to get, on a totally unknown rookie QB? If we were picking top 3 in a year with at least 1 or 2 sure fire day 1 starters, it'd be different. But we're not. We're picking at 10 in a draft that looks to most likely have no QBs ready to start. To me, the smart move is keeping Tyrod Taylor until you have a Legitimate upgrade. I just don't see it as a smart move to dump Tyrod back in March for what amounts to nothing more than a dream of an upgrade (or some veteran scrap heap QB). Like him or not, he was top 12 and top 7 in points in his 2 seasons as starter. Most coaches probably feel like they can win with that, especially a defensive coach who has effectively run a defensive scheme that has been able to limit opponents to 18-19 points per game or less...

http://www.wgr550.com/articles/news/report-antipin-coming-buffalo Antipin still expected to sign with the Sabres. Hopefully the new GM is on board with this, which I see no reason why he wouldn't be. Antipin can only sign an ELC with a max of $925k. No brainer as far as I'm concerned.

Speaking of Jim Overdorf... I believe last year was his 30th season with the Buffalo Bills. IIRC he was hired in 1986. That is a crazy long time for an NFL job.

I thought it was the other way around. Polian himself said that Marrone leaving was a big reason he decided not to come back here. He said it went from being a fun gig to a lot more heavy lifting, which he wasn't interested in doing.

Hope you guys are right. I could definitely see that being true. I guess I just worry about if any of them are disgruntled, or just indifferent/don't care. I also worry as to why they all seem to think they are getting fired. If it's true, why is it such a poorly kept secret? It just doesn't seem like the best way to get employees putting in max effort and performing to maximum potential. Like you said though YoLo, most of their work is probably done by now anyway (excluding Whaley), so maybe it doesn't really matter at this point. Agreed. It could get a lot worse than Whaley, as we've seen here before.

LOL. I guess we are doomed, huh? Seriously though, This is something most teams do. Even control freak/disciplinarian Marrone played music during practices. Here's just a couple examples though - Seattle - http://www.nfl.com/superbowl/story/0ap2000000317463/article/secret-to-pete-carrolls-seattle-seahawks-dont-stop-the-music Patriots- http://www.patspulpit.com/2016/5/27/11796336/check-out-the-patriots-music-playlist-from-otas Denver- http://blogs.denverpost.com/broncos/2015/06/01/playlist-broncos-practice-music-to-start-week-2-of-otas/34136/ Enough said...

Oh boy, this makes me nervous for this upcoming draft. It makes me wonder just how much these scouts (and our GM) will care about getting the picks right. But at the same time, if they do terrible on the picks it may hurt them in trying to get a new job, I guess.

Thanks for sharing. It was a nice read. It's interesting to hear what other college coaches think of him. I do think Trubisky seems to have a number of traits you look for in a franchise QB. That Bleacher Report article was a bit over the top for me, though. As soon as I read this - "His arm strength? Unmatched. The dude can whistle fastballs from any angle....", I knew it was going to be a bit of a puff piece...

Why exactly can you say that it was definitively Cam Newton who made Sean McDermott's defense so good? I'm not quite fully following... McDermott ran a top 10 defense 4 of the last 5 years. He also had the #12 ranked defense in both of his 2 years as DC in Philly. He has been a defensive coordinator for 8 years and had a top 12 defense in 6 of those 8 years. Carolina's defense made some huge improvements under McDermott 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 I fail to see how all of that improvement was because of Cam Newton. I think Sean McDermott has legitimately earned this head coaching job based on the merits of his performance, and that is the first time I feel like I can honestly say that about a Bills head coach in quite some time.

"Only a few people in each organization are privy to the complete book on a player -- and all 32 teams might have different chapters and footnotes on the same person. The Patriots' director of player personnel, Nick Caserio, said the team only has draftable grades on 50-75 players in this year's class. The Browns' personnel head, Andrew Berry, said Cleveland has 175 draftable players. The Cardinals have roughly 120." It's amazing the differences between teams. The Browns see 100-125 more draftable players than the Patriots do, and 30-55 more than the Cardinals.

Thanks. I hadn't seen that. Well I guess you can throw my theory out the window... But wait, no dinner with Pegula, so...? lol j/k

I could see Watson being the QB the Bills want. There really hasn't been a whole lot of rumored Bills interest. You heard that comment about Whaley loving him a while ago (which I could definitely see being true). But since then, not much. While in the mean time there has been a lot of stuff out there about the Bills working out and dining with Trubisky, Kizer, Mahomes. But not much about Watson, that I'm aware of anyway. Which makes me kind of wonder if Watson is the guy they are after (if they are actually even truly looking to draft a QB in the first couple rounds).

Seems like a lot of drama with draft prospects this year...

I think Whaley is above average at pro personnel evaluation. That is definitely his strength IMO. If he were our pro personnel director, I think he'd be one of the best in the NFL. As a GM, he has been average to this point, IMO. As for his drafting, I think he is average to good, not great. He has his hits and misses, like every GM, and at times it seems like he is better at evaluating/drafting certain positions compared to others (but that could also be the scouting dept. or a # of other factors, too). There has been so much constant scheme/coaching change its hard to truly judge his drafting as of now. We've had a ridiculous number of different DC's/OC's/HC's in his time here. I do think Whaley is the best the Bills have had in quite a long time, but to be fair that bad isn't set very high. Personally, I would like to see the Bills actually keep the same coaching staff for a good 4-5 years and see what they can build. Bad teams stay bad by constantly firing coaches and changing directions. I think we can almost difinitely say at this point that we know constant upheaval & coaching change doesn't work... It'd be nice to try something new for a change.

There is still a long time before the season starts. This roster is FAR from set. If we were about to be starting the regular season i'd be more worried about it. We have the draft (and undrafted free agent signings). Lots of good players will be released between now and the start of the season too. Plenty of time still, to fill holes and add depth. It sucks that Pats signed away another Bills player, but Whaley found Gilislee off the street. He wasn't even on an NFL team. Nobody thought he'd turn into anything and we were all very pleasantly surprised. I am hopeful that the same thing can happen again. Whaley is pretty darn good at finding veteran role players. And who knows, maybe we already have a guy on the roster who can step in and fill the void.

You completely missed the point. The article itself says that they couldn't determine if the drivers were aftually impaired. They very well could have smoked pot 7 to 30 days before the accident, and got into a crash for a totally unrelated reason. If they were driving around smoking pot and it directly caused the accident, then it's different. But we don't know that, and the article you listed doesn't know it either. I had a buddy fail who smoked less than a single joint nearly a month before he was tested. I think it all depends on the person, their metabolism and their weight + body fat percentage (as it stores in your body fat IIRC).

That's some good work. Thanks for taking the time to do this. 17 sounds about right to me.

I know what you mean, but I am not necessarily like that. I was not excited about the Rex Ryan hire at all and said so from day 1. I wasn't all that excited by the Marrone hire either. Same with Chan Gailey. This is the first coaching hire in years that I am legitimately excited about. I have been a fan of his for years. I love the way he had Carolina's defense playing. They were usually a fun, exciting defense to watch and produced pretty good results too (top 10 defense 4 of the last 5 years). I really feel like this is the guy that can turn things around here. I know it's premature since he's so new. But I just think he has the right coaching traits and coaching philosophies to be very successful. Honestly, I want McDermott to get at least 4 or 5 years no matter what. Even if we bomb this year. I know that's a dangerous statement before he's even coached a game. But I really want to see what the Bills can do with the same HC for more than 2-3 years. I want the same scheme(s) for 4-5 years so we can actually build something.

I disagree with that, but then take Polian out of the equation. How do you explain the near universal praise by everyone as a "red flag"? Every coach, GM, player, ex-player, analyst (etc) who I have seen speak about the McDermott hire has offered praise. I can't remember seeing a single person say anything bad.

"a second AAA study discourages lawmakers from adopting arbitrary legal limits on marijuana use because of a lack of adequate methods to determine impairment by the drug.AAA officials said the studies about marijuana and driving, released Tuesday, are meant to encourage more comprehensive enforcement measures to improve road safety. Authorities in Washington recorded 436 fatal crashes in 2013, and determined that drivers involved in 40 crashes tested positive for THC, the active chemical in marijuana, according to the study. In 2014 they found that of 462 fatal crashes, 85 drivers tested positive for THC. The fatal crash study does not determine whether drivers were impaired, and it notes that there was no sign of an increase in fatal crashes among those with marijuana in their systems until a full 39 weeks after marijuana possession was legalized in the state. But the uptick in crashes by people testing positive for recent marijuana use also raises concern over the lack of adequate methods to determine whether drivers are actually impaired by marijuana when they get behind the wheel." The problem is that marijuana stays in people's system for 30 days or more...

They been rebuilding on and off for a long time, and they just hired one of the very best coaches in the entire NHL. They should be ahead of us. Agreed. They exceeded all expectations this year and look like a fantastic young team. There will definitely be more pressure on them next year to do as good/better. Lots of teams and players have had a good season. Doing it consistently every year is the hard part. But I have little doubt that the Leafs will be as good or better next year. Oh man, If they're able to snag a good defenseman this summer (from a team trying to avoid losing one to expansion, etc) I'm a little scared to think about it... lol.

Just about everyone has universally praised the McDermott hire. From Bill Polian to random NFL analysts to other head coaches around the NFL. McDermott is said to be very well respected if NFL circles.