BillsFan4

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.

My point wasn't really to defend Whaley or say I agree or disagree with the rankings. It was that these same ranking had Whaley draft's as 9th best the past 2 years, and I don't see how you legitimately go from them ranking you 9th best drafting team 2 years in a row to 25th best in a single season, especially when they say the 2 previous season are being taken into account. I was saying their ranking methods seemed flawed to me.

They are not referring to a restructure like Tyrod did, where they would take a pay cut. They are talking about a restructure, as in converting some of this year's salary into a signing bonus, that is then spread out over the rest of the years of the contract. I'm not even sure if they need the player's permission to do it, as they're not taking a pay cut but just receiving more money up front. I can't imagine a guy saying no anyway. But there's draw backs to it for the team. It would free up about $7 M each in cap space this year (roughly $14M-$15M total). But then both of their cap hits would be higher in each of the next years of their deal (roughly a $2 to $3 million higher per year, I believe, but I'm not exactly sure). It would also make their dead cap hits higher too, and make it harder to move on from them before their 5 year deals expire, because if they were released all of that restructured money that is left would hit the cap the year they were released (as it couldn't continue to be spread out over the length of the deal anymore). It creates cap space for this season, but it's basically just kicking the can down the road. So IMO, I see it as one of those "if we really have to do it" options. I think they'll probably try to avoid it if they can.

http://buffalonews.com/2017/04/22/jerry-hughes-anxious-see-bills-return-4-3-base-defensive-scheme/ This is a pretty good read. It gives a little glimpse at McDermott's coaching style thus far. I like a lot of what Jerry Hughes had to say.

I agree with Sal. I just don't see a QB worth a top 10 pick, and there's no way I'd pass on a sure fire starter, and potentially elite player at #10. Not for any of these QBs, who are all projects. The risk and value have to meet up, especially in the 1st round IMO, and the risk is just too great for me. I know some on here keep saying that his isn't a weak QB draft class. But how often is it that almost everyone seems to agree that there doesn't look to be even 1 day 1 starter among the QB class? If Mahomes or Trubisky are there in the 2nd, I definitely take one of them. Or I'd possibly even consider a low cost trade up into the early 2nd (or maybe even very late 1st) if they love the guy and the price is right, or they're able to trade back from #10 and grab more picks. I wouldn't be willing to give up much though, because the Bills don't have the picks to give up. Even though I don't want a QB at #10, I do feel that the Bills have done their due diligence on this QB class. They seem to have spent some serious time on the evaluation of,every main QB prospect, and that's all I can ask for at this point. So I will ultimately support whatever decision they make. If they don't feel there is a QB worth #10 overall, I will support it. If they do feel that there is a QB worth the #10 pick, I will support that too.... Whatever they do, I'm sure I'll voice my opinion, but I am surely not going state it like a fact as some others do, and sit here pretending I know more than the people who do this for a living and decide that they were dead wrong & should be fired, before we even have a chance to see how the decision plays out.