blacklabel

I can agree with most of what you're saying. It's not uncommon for a lot of first-time head coaches to struggle with game/clock management. As a coordinator, that wasn't part of his job. I'm sure he's picked up plenty of knowledge from the head coaches he's worked under but applying that knowledge in real time is a challenge he'll continue to work at, I'm sure.

What I never really cared for was the influence these guys (Bucky, Sully) had on their fellow writers and journalists. Jonah Javad is one example. He was generally pretty positive and upbeat but then he was assigned to work the Sports Talk Sunday show with a rotating cast of TBN guys. Gradually, Javad started sounding like a carbon copy of those dudes. Jay Skurski is another dude whose writing I've seen start to reflect that of his counterparts, and usually not in a positive way. And I don't care if they wanna hammer on about negative aspects, that's part of the gig. It was the enthusiasm with which these guys discussed negative points. I remember watching a bit of the show last season before the KC game. Bucky very blandly provided his reasons why the Bills could win. And then he provided the reasons why they could lose and holy crap, he was like a kid on Christmas. "If Kansas City gets that run game going, WATCH OUT! It'll be over before it starts. If they can't stop the run, this team is dead in the water and KC will destroy them!!" It was like they just couldn't wait for the Bills to get their asses handed to them so they could flip open their laptops and start writing a self-congratulatory "I told you so" type of article. **** like that just gets old real fast. Same can be said for Sully. It was as if these guys had an extreme reluctance to provide any sort of praise to these teams. And Sully goes to the Super Bowl that one year and makes a complete idiot of himself with what I'm sure he felt were "hard hitting" questions but instead it was picked up nationally and people were like, "This dude is a buffoon." It was also kind of hilarious to see a number of them get their tighty whities in a bunch when McBeane put forth a concerted effort to shut down the leaks. Obviously, inside sources are a major part of being a journalist but it seemed the Pegulas and co. really were just done with the leaks and that really seemed to upset those guys. It felt like a degree of entitlement on their end. Like, "Hey, you owe it to us to provide inside info and news! We're the connection between the team and the fans for information!" That was another thing that irritated me, when these guys would be telling people on social media that "without me you get no insight on your favorite teams!" It's sweet that they find themselves to be that important but with so many media outlets and ways to stay connected, their role as a connection to inside info became minimal. They combined that self-importance with a lot of arrogance, constantly engaging with trolls or people with the most moronic takes ever and avoiding anyone with a decent question or counter-argument.

Right you are on Miller. They had him ranked near the bottom for his rookie year but lauded his performance in 2016. They are reliable to a degree. They certainly are not the be-all end-all on statistics and analysis. They've gained popularity for the different types of analysis and measuring they've created but I've always taken their stuff with a grain of salt. They can watch all the film they want and identify what they may label a negative play but they have no idea what assignments each player has on any given play. I don't recall exactly which season it was, but it wasn't too long ago. Aaron Rodgers caught fire in the second half of a game to lead GB to a comeback win. It was agreed by many that Rodgers was the primary reason the Packers won that game. The next day, PFF slapped a negative grade on Rodgers' performance and tried to justify it with a lengthy blog post. To me, it really just came off as them trying to be different for the sake of being different, which really is what a lot of sites/bloggers/analysts/writers do in order to generate interest and clicks. "What's the census opinion here? OK, lemme express the polar opposite of that opinion and call myself an expert." Granted, it's fine to have opposing viewpoints but come up with a better reason for having those viewpoints other than being the guy with the "controversial" take. Also, this thread title is misleading... my bones are not chilled at all.

I prefer players who are 3/17ths committed, thank you very much.

Definitely puzzling as to why they prefer to keep Groy locked into a backup role. I get that he has the ability to fill in at C/G but they matched the offer sheet from the Rams last season to keep him here. I guess maybe they prefer him in his current role because it'll allow them to carry one less OL during the season?? That'd open up a roster spot elsewhere but that feels like a lame reason to keep the guy at second string. Pretty much everybody agrees that he held it down pretty well when Wood missed time in 2016. I assume he'll get a shot to win a starting job in camp, at least. Miller made huge strides from his rookie to his second year. His skill-set just wasn't a good fit for what Dennison was trying to accomplish. As stated previously, if they decide to use more power than zone schemes then Miller has a good chance to win a starting gig. Mills showed some improvement last season. He can hold his own against bigger pass rushers but he is consistently bad against speed rushers. We'll see if Marshall Newhouse can give him a run for his money. The comments from Bengals fans on Bodine certainly haven't provided much reassurance but we'll see. Hopefully Dawkins doesn't fall into a sophomore slump. Could happen depending on the blocking scheme they run. Teller could turn out to be a steal if they can reach him. I guess his not-so-great senior year was a result of him not getting along with the coaches. Not sure if it's true but I believe I read that he played most of last season with an undisclosed injury so that may have caused his play to drop some. McBeane obviously wouldn't take a player seen as lazy so they must be alright with his senior year and believe the right kind of coaching can turn him into a starter. No superstars on this OL but, I dunno, may not be as horrible as some think. This coaching staff seems to be geared towards running schemes that will maximize a players skill set, you know, the opposite of what Dennison did last season. I think McDermott has been great so far but if he has one blunder it's his decision to hire Rick Dennison. That dude seemed like a last resort kind of hire. I've always wondered if McDermott decided to hire him because Dennison was the OC who helped defeat McDermott's defense in SB50.

I was going to post this. If anyone is truly upset about the situation, be upset at the government. Before 2011, teams waited in the locker room while the anthem was sung. As the article linked above states, the government approached the NFL with a bunch of money to start adding more "patriotism" to the game. Wasting taxpayer money to influence sports teams to show more patriotism isn't really patriotic. The same mouthbreathers that get their crusty old underoos in a bunch over the kneeling are the same buncha mongoloids who are getting beer and nacho cheese all over their dumpster-fresh jerseys as the anthem is being sung. To see some people so enraged by this is just mind-boggling. There are hundreds of other things on the "Reasons to be Angry" sh!tlist that are ahead of "athlete kneels during anthem." Cripes, if you're that worked up, use your energy to do something positive instead of parading around screeching, "Back in my day, we stood! And they should stand, or else!" Or else what? Hit 'em with consequences like this?: German football club banned from playing games for failing to give Nazi salute. There's no law that says anyone has to stand whenever the anthem is being sung. If you wanna consider someone disrespectful because they didn't stand, that's fine, you can have that opinion. What you can't do is start berating/belittling/threatening/insulting, etc. someone who doesn't stand, because that's obviously far more disrespectful than kneeling during the anthem. Doing sh!t like that makes you a total hypocrite and clearly puts on display your astronomical lack of comprehension and idiocy. In the grand scheme of things, this crap is SO friggin' small and insignificant that it's astounding how it's still making headlines.

Last I checked, this was a forum for discussion about the Buffalo Bills... and Josh Rosen plays for Arizona...

That was one of those crazy drought moments that left you thinking, "Really?! They can't catch a break on that one? He does all that and then his own man gets in his way and trips him up? This team is cursed!"

It's not the best group but it doesn't seem like McBeane are concerned because the way they wanna win is still the same: strong run game and a suffocating defense. And people seem to forget that there are a couple of other guys on the roster that don't hold the title of "Wide Receiver" but still catch a bunch of passes. Clay and McCoy will still be key players in their passing scheme.

I read a round-table interview with several athletes from different sports, one of which was former Browns/Bengals receiver Andrew Hawkins. He said when he entered the NFL, he assumed every player was an elite, world-class athlete. What he found out, was that about 50% of the players in the league are elite athletes. I'm not a mathologist but that's something like 4-6 elite players on each team. The rest of the guys are all about even in terms of athleticism, playing and earning a spot all comes down to hard work and availability. DGB lacks in both of those areas. His work ethic is low and he's had injuries from day one. Also, I'm surprised (I shouldn't be) that some fans still aren't familiar with which players are "process" guys and which aren't. DGB is about as far away from being a McDermott guy as anybody. (PS - whatdrought, this statement here is not directed at you, just an overall general thought.)

Thanks indeed! I was a transplant from the BBMB and this gave me a place to continue yapping about this team. Apologies for the knuckleheads that came over from BBMB but for the most part, this forum has been wonderful. Thanks to the mods and the site owner for doing such a great job.

It's all speculation, but I also wonder if he agreed to that contract restructure under the impression that his agent told him something like, "Don't worry, they're just shuffling around money, you're still going to get paid what you're supposed to get paid." And then he signed, maybe the agent misinterpreted the language of the contract or perhaps the Bills were like, "Nah, we needed him to take a pay cut, we won't be making up for that cut in bonuses or anything" and that's what tipped Richie off, because after that, he fired his agent and started trying to play games with the Bills.

I believe he was attacked by a hotel window.

It's kinda sad... someone mentioned autism, I don't think Richie has that... I'm not 100% on this but I think he may be diagnosed bipolar. After the whole Martin thing, he spent his year and a half away from football staying in shape but also in psychological/psychiatric treatment. There was a lengthy interview with him where he said he used the time away to address some internal issues he never really bothered to face. He said that he learned how to control his anger better, how to let go of situations that may have been upsetting in the moment but were insignificant in the grand scheme of things. I'm sure all of that stuff played a role in the Bills being comfortable enough to sign him. I also think one of the reasons the Bills felt good about signing him was because of two guys on the team named Eric Wood and Kyle Williams. Wood has said he and Incognito became friends pretty much from day one when Richie came in. It's possible that Wood really helped keep the guy in line and now that he no longer has the locker room environment to be in and is presently unemployed and not playing the sport he's spent his entire life playing, it's probably making things tough on him mentally. Still, you hope that he has the wherewithal to stop and realize how far he's come and catch himself before he does something lame like throw a dumbbell at someone.

I generally pick up the draft hat each year but last year's hat was pretty boring and this year's hats just aren't for me. If you think the design on these ones are bad, phew, I used to work with a guy who had a friend that worked at New Era and every so often he would get "proofs" which are hats that were made and then one of several designs gets chosen to go into a full production run. The hats that don't get picked, I don't know if they become free game for employees but this guy would come up with a handful of (usually) Sabres hats and some of the designs on those things, gah. But then on the flipside, there were some that I saw with great designs that you wish they would've picked for the full run.

I do hope they give him some serious consideration. Talent-wise, he seems like a great fit for this defense. I'm not sure what kind of locker room guy he is and obviously that's important to McBeane. I've never seen anything negative about him in the news but that doesn't mean he's a good match for the type of locker room McDermott is trying to maintain. We shall see what happens.

Not a bad idea. He certainly won't be sitting around for long. I'm sure we'll soon be hearing which teams have interest. With his skill set, we have to pretty much assume for sure that the FO is taking a look back at his film and making some calls to see what kind of deal he's looking for. Don't think they'll get into a bidding war, though. Doesn't seem to be Beane's style.

I wonder if he'd go for a one-year deal, because I don't think Bills have the money to offer him a monster contract right now. I believe that's the reason he's tried to get out of Philly for so long, his contract demands are well above where Philly is willing to go.

Who was the other offer from? I don't think I caught that in the news during free agency frenzy. And I don't think anybody is sleeping on the kid. He bet on himself to land a nice contract and a starting gig somewhere but ended up being one of the last available QBs to be signed. That tells me that teams around the league haven't really changed their value on him.

He may have been invited but couldn't make it. A number of rookies miss NFL and NFLPA events every year if they attend a school that runs courses through May and they're trying to finish up their degree. Other guys might have exclusive endorsements with other companies, although that's doubtful when it comes to football cards. A few years ago the NFL decided they wanted a singular exclusive supplier for trading cards. Since Panini is one of, if not, the biggest trading card company in the world, they won the contract and became the only company licensed to make NFL trading cards. Companies like Topps and Upper Deck had to stop making football cards starting in 2016, I believe. Topps is still king of baseball cards and Upper Deck does quite well with hockey card collectors. But yeah, it kinda took some of the fun out of collecting knowing that you only get one choice. Years ago Panini bought out companies like Donruss, Fleer, Playoff, etc. and they print cards using those names and logos but it's still all Panini. Ever since they became the only NFL card supplier they've completely flooded the market. They put out at least 20 different sets of cards for every football season. I pretty much gave up on buying boxes and now I just stick to trying to snag a couple of different autographed cards of each Bills rookie from year to year. All of this insanely nerdy info comes courtesy of, well, being a nerd that collects a buncha different stuff but also a good friend of mine works for Dave and Adam's. Fun fact, those guys started out as a tiny store in Tonawanda and today they are one of the biggest trading card and collectibles retailers in the nation.

I'm not sure about Suh but Phillips played somewhere around 90% of the defensive snaps for Stanford last season, which is a lot for a DL. He said he would have to pick and choose some plays where he wouldn't go all out in order to preserve some energy. As part of a consistent rotation, he has a chance to standout early in his career. Especially as he learns from a guy like 95. And a lot of his flaws can be corrected with coaching. I also thought it was funny to see that bit from a scouting report on Kyle, saying he's not much of an athlete, haha. It's funny because plenty of coaches and teammates have said Kyle is one of the best natural athletes they've been around. He's what they call a "big body athlete." He has an explosive first step, he's strong as hell and just as smart. I hear he's also a ridiculously good golfer.

It's from today. It's the NFLPA Rookie Premiere which is put on by Panini America, a trading card manufacturer. These dudes will spend the day signing their name more times than they can count and taking tons of photos to be used for future card releases. Panini decides who gets invited. There are always more offensive guys there than defensive as most collectors go for players in skill positions.

The importance of a big time WR is a bit overstated these days, at least in terms of wins. Receivers miss games and teams generally don't miss a beat. Or receivers play the entire season and their team still winds up with a losing record (OBJ's best statistical season came in 2015 and the Giants went 6-10). Half of the leaders in receptions in 2017 were on teams that didn't make the playoffs. The top three leaders in receiving touchdowns in 2017 (D. Hopkins, D. Adams, J. Graham) all sat home during the playoffs last season. Tom Brady has played most of his career without a true #1 WR. He's depended on small, speedy slot receivers like Welker, Edelman and Amendola. Gronk regularly misses games every season and the Pats still win. Kirk Cousins established himself as a top ten QB without having a big time receiver during any of his seasons. Of course it's a benefit to have a game-breaking WR but I don't think it's a necessity to win games. It still all comes down to how coaches utilize their players. Case in point, you can move up and draft a player expected to be a big time WR but he can't do much if his coaches spend time during his rookie year using him as a decoy instead of dialing up plays to get him the ball. Beyond that, the Bills have been a run-first team since 2014. Greg Roman's scheme in 2015/16 featured rather elementary route combos and overall had a passing attack that wasn't difficult for defenses to figure out. 2017 may have had a different OC and scheme but it still had a simple passing scheme. Plus, the WR group here doesn't really have any guys that separate with their route running. Combine that with a QB hesitant to throw into tight coverage and you get a dead-last ranked Bills are still going to aim to be a run-first team with an opportunistic defense. They're still going to keep the passing attempts around 25-30 a game. They're still laying the foundation for this team and the side of the ball they've chosen to focus on first is defense, for obvious reasons. They're closer to having their defense where they want it than they are with their offense. I assume next season will be the year they work to bring in some better offensive talent to put around Josh Allen. With the way they prioritize positions, I think, for right now anyway, WR isn't near the top of the list. They'll get there, though.

Nah, just that people using the R word are about as useful as people who use the N word so whatever subtlety you're going for is cancelled out by your ignorance.