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Darby excels as a man-to-man corner. The McDermott/Fraiser defense employs zone coverage, something Darby didn't do a lot of in school. Hence the trade. It happens. Get over it.

Sounds to me like TBN is trying to appeal to a younger audience, but they aren't going about it the best way because it's alienating their older/longtime readers. And I can kind of empathize with Sully on young writers getting top gigs fresh outta school. Seems to be the case with a lot of companies these days that longevity and the ol' "foot in the door and then climb the ladder" approach really doesn't mean much. He's old school, I get it, he worked his way up, there's bound to be some animosity in seeing inexperienced writers get the featured articles and front pages. However, that's not to say these younger writers haven't earned it by simply being a talented writer. But yeah, with the way seniority and longevity seem to be fading from the workplace, it's easy to see why he felt like it was a "slap in the face." But, again, the flip-side of this is, where does he take accountability? Did he ever sit down and do a self-evaluation as to why so many people disliked his work? Did he ever try to approach his writing from a different perspective other than "grumpy fan guy?" Doesn't seem like it. So, he can only harbor so much disdain for his former employer because at the end of the day, time has kinda passed him by and sports journalism is a very different environment than it used to be. He's very much a traditionalist and feels like his experience should earn him unquestioned respect. That kinda attitude never goes over well. As for his actual writing, I personally always felt like the dude was negative for the sake of being negative. Either that, or he'd seek out the unpopular opinions on things and run with that. I think that type of stuff is meant simply to generate clicks and after a while that crap is just an attention-grabbing headline attached to an article void of substance. And that sh*t is everywhere these days. The amount of coverage going on in each American sport and on each team is staggering. I saw a tweet a while back that said something to the effect of, "The famous 1983 NFL Draft had about 70 credentialed writers covering it. Today (I think it was the 2017 draft) there are more than 2800 credentialed writers covering this event." It's just insane how much coverage there is out there. For a long time, I looked into writing for a blog or starting my own or just writing for the sake of it, throwing it out there to see if I could catch on with anything but when it came down to it, even though I might be able to present a clearer picture with my writing than some other writers, I always came back to the point of, "I don't think I'm saying anything that hasn't already been said." And that's another tricky thing in the current journalism world. Grabbing people's attention. This age of instant info and gratification seems to have shortened most people's attention spans. My main issue with Sully and guys like Bucky and them, is not that they're overly critical or negative or lame, it was the excitement in their tones when they started criticizing. Each season channel 2 or 7 puts together a Bills show featuring the local yokel reporters around here. I've caught plenty of them where Sully was a guest and as they break down the game he might say, "If Buffalo gets McCoy going, that takes pressure off Taylor and the defense, which is ideal." But then, he'd get real hyped up and be like, "BUT! If Kansas City gets THEIR running game going, OH MAN, WATCH OUT, because this Bills team will be DOOMED! If they don't contain the run game, it's gonna get ugly and they're gonna get annihilated." There would be comments like that and then, the other thing that irked me was how contradictory to his own opinions Sully was. He'd write an entire article on why the Bills absolutely positively MUST re-sign Player A or else they're a buncha turds. So, then, after the season, the team would go ahead and re-sign Player A and the next day, sure as sh*t, there's Sully bemoaning the whole thing. "It's too much money! He isn't worth it! He's a bum!" It's like harping on someone to fix something and then when they do the other person is yelling, "Aww, no no no, not that way!" And in reality there's really no method that would appease an opinionated guy like Sully. Bucky did that crap as well. Again, I understand the dynamics of journalism and reporting and opinions and etc. etc. etc. but when you're acting like that in a region overflowing with Bills fans, it tells me that you're not very self-aware of your surroundings. And then they wanna sit back and wonder why so much shade gets thrown their way? Maybe keep your tone unbiased and paint a clearer picture without the fervor of praising the opponent so much or writing yourself into a corner with avoidable contradictions. It reminded me of watching a game with the opposing teams play-by-play and commentary duo. Steve Tasker was the epitome of this when he first got a broadcasting gig. The Bills would get lit up for a 75 yard touchdown and he'd be like, "Well, that's Brady for you. But let me show you what Jeff Posey was doing on this play and let me tell you why he did exceptional work here." No, Steve, no, you're not going to convince me that Jeff frickin' Posey did a good job because if he had, they wouldn't have scored. As others have (I'm sure) pointed out, that type of non-stop commentary and opinion just wears thin after a while. But a guy like Sully, he took pride in that and made it part of his "schtick" and well, his stuff is just outdated. Everything in this world is going to continue to evolve. As the saying goes, the only constant is change. To me, in this podcast, dude comes off like a self-entitled jerk who wants to point fingers at everyone else to explain why his precious column was taken away. And honestly, I prefer reading stuff from some of these new kids. Matt Fairburn especially. You can tell that he gives a crap and works diligently to produce solid content every time he posts. Joe B as well, although his writing will drive me nuts sometimes because it's clear that the dude never proof-reads his sh*t. Tim Graham, for as much heat as he gets, he's an A+ writer. His Twitter antics get old but I do typically enjoy his work. Sully just needed to get on with where things are headed or get out the way.

I can't see them trying that kind of stuff with Allen right meow. They seem pretty set on letting him sit back and learn for now. Hopefully when his time comes, this staff will put him in a system similar to what the Eagles have with Carson Wentz.

I think his teammates wanted to at least hear from him either way, like, are you gonna join us or not? I think they assumed that he'd end his holdout based on some things that were said but that's not the case. I'm all for players maximizing their value and getting paid, but in this instance, I can see why the Steelers are hesitant to meet his demands. I mean, they've already offered to make him the highest paid back in football but he turned that down. But he's also a guy who's missed significant time due to injuries and suspensions. As they say, the best ability is availability and they have a right to be concerned about his reliability before giving him huge guaranteed money.

19 for 26, 224 yards, 1 TD, 1 pick, 4 sacks. Modesty thy name be Peterman.

It's interesting to see both sides of the coin come out. At the beginning of his holdout/negotiations, I'm sure he had his teammates behind him hoping that he'd get paid. And now that he's decided to no-show, it seems to have sent a poor message to the team that he doesn't give a sh*t about his teammates. But, you'd think his teammates would have figured out by now that Bell is more than likely a dude who plays ball because he's good at it and knows he can get paid. Deep down, I doubt very much that wins and championships mean a whole lot to him.

CHECK! I said GOOD DAY, sir!

As others have said, I'm sure they'll go with a lot of short drops and quick throws, especially the types of throws where the receivers have room to run after the catch. McDermott mentioned the importance of that last week. Also rolled that into a compliment for Nate about his ball placement. He typically does lead his receivers and puts it in a spot that will allow them to catch it in stride and keep trucking. I hate to bring up the horror that was last seasons Chargers game but before the debacle, Nate made a great throw to Benjamin over the middle and he picked up 20 yards but got injured on the tackle. It was the first time since Taylor had been the starter that I'd seen a pass on time like that. Timing, rhythm, Peterman's not bad at those type of throws. The plays better go as scripted though, as he is pretty ineffective when the play breaks down. But yeah, I'd expect them to play a style of offense that negates the pass rush.

Whoever wrote that at Bills Wire is incorrect. Captains are voted by their teammates. It's clear that McDermott likes DiMarco, hopefully he'll bring a little more to the table this season. Hauschka makes sense as does Kyle, Lorenzo and Shady. Taiwan Jones must have really stepped up and has some of the younger players looking up to him for guidance and whatnot. It seems clear that he's well-liked by his teammates given their reaction on that 3rd down pick up last season against the Bucs.

This sheds some light as to why they're working out Paxton Lynch. Seems they wanna roll with 3 QBs, and if they were able to gain a pick from McCarron, what's the harm in signing a dude to run the scout team and have it cost you nothing?

Isn't it? Yeesh.

I loved that Fitz had that hero in his blood and wanted nothing more than to make a play when needed but more often than not it'd end up in a turnover or incompletion.

At this point I doubt even Richie has his sh*t straight as to why he isn't on a team anymore. First, he willingly agreed to a pay cut. Then, he flips his lid, fires his agents, demands his original contract back, then says he's "retiring due to health reasons" after the Bills told him no. In reality, homeboy straight up didn't wanna go thru training camp. I think he had every intention of sitting out for the summer and then trying to catch on with a team after the pre-season. Sadly, the death of his father has clearly impacted him greatly as he seems to be slipping down the slope more each day. Eric Wood was basically told, "Look, one more snap and you could end up paralyzed or dead" so, it's obvious he'd be here if he could be. Cordy Glenn was a solid player while he was here and I have a lot of respect for him for the illness and injuries he played through. I believe last season was a good indicator that he's past his prime at this point. Dawkins out-played him to the point where the team felt comfortable moving on without him. It's funny, because the same nitwits ragging on this OL now and saying they still need those three players were the same nitwits calling them all "slow and unathletic" while they were here.

Saw this on a Twitter feed somewhere but I agree, someone said they think Cory Carter had the punting competition wrapped up but then he got hurt which caused the FO to scramble a bit. Hence, Jon Ryan and then the new kid. Schmidt's average has been consistent in his four-year career but over the last two seasons he seemed to shank it at really bad times and his directional/pin 'em deep punts were ending up as touchbacks more often than not. McDermott prioritizes special teams and field position a lot and clearly Schmidt just wasn't getting it done anymore. However, I bet the dude is "on retainer" (i.e. on their speed dial) in case of an injury to the new kid... whom I will stop calling new kid when I know how to correctly spell his friggin' name and don't feel like Googling it at the moment.

Yes, precisely, I have a draft prospect timeline "in my head" even though I really didn't touch on any of their picks aside from Allen. The 3-year timeline is common practice in the league. You really don't know what you have in a prospect until year three, that's what they say anyway. Clearly, some prospects show their hand one way or the other before that, but, regardless, I didn't come up with that criteria for judging prospects. And what part of their plan are they not doing? They're doing exactly what they've said they would do from day one. We can make a list if that makes it easier. They said... -Any players not on board would be playing elsewhere. Check. -They would get the cap situation under control, I won't say "check" because it's still in process but they unloaded several massive contracts given to players that were no longer worth the money they were getting. -Find a franchise QB. Check. (Hey look at that, no "timeline in my head" on that one! Wow.) -Build a team in their vision. Check. We can say "in progress" on this one too, if you wanna split hairs because teams are constantly building. -Find the right players for their vision. Check. Or, again, another in progress type of endeavor but the core of their team is built around players with the same core values outline in their vision: Hard-working, team-first players more focused on helping their team win than focused on stats or personal achievements. -Build team chemistry. Check. How many disorganized/disgruntled yet talented teams have we watched over the years? Plenty. One constant about those teams I always saw from current/former players, analysts, etc. was that they didn't seem "together" and they weren't playing for each other. Now, you have a team that considers themselves family and loves playing for each other. Lemme know the next time any other team gets fired up like they just won the big one after a journeyman backup RB/special teams guy takes a three-yard dump off and picks up a first down. And they accomplish parts of these and other goals all while breaking a 17-year playoff drought. To me, I just don't see the need to nitpick and dissect every single move they make knowing how crazy the NFL can be. Not every move is a home-run, not every move is meant to be. Maybe that's what some people don't see... they see a signing of a player and if it's not a name they recognize or a position they feel is a position of need they're gonna find a way to discredit and criticize the move. Again, I'll go back to the point of sustainability. This franchise has been the definition of discord and disorganization since 2000. Wade Phillips, Gregg Williams, Mike Mularkey, Dick Jauron, Chan Gailey, Doug Marrone, Rex Ryan. Tom Donahoe, Marv Levy, Russ Brandon, Buddy Nix, Doug Whaley. What do all those guys have in common? All but two of them (Jauron & Whaley) saw three years or less in their positions. Just the fact that some people feel ready to move on from this regime because they haven't yet addressed every single issue with this team is beyond me. It's quite obvious that without sustainability at the top there is no sustainability or success to flow through the entire franchise. It's cliche at this point but these are the reasons why we constantly hear "process." Takes time. Let 'em work that's all I'm saying. If not them, then what's the alternative? People always seem so ready to dump everything and clean house but rarely present a decent alternative. I mean, we can go on and provide many other examples that show just how different this regime is than past ones. In any business, there's going to be wrinkles to work out, of course. But, given the absolute sh*tshows that were Rex/Whaley and St. Douggie/Whaley, McBeane is a breath of fresh air. These guys are held in very high regard by the Pegulas so clearly they're doing something right. To your last point on Beane being here only because he's McDermott's bud, I think the Carolina Panthers organization would disagree as they willfully employed him for 19 seasons and had every intention on handing him the keys after Gettleman but he took a chance to come here and build this team. On top of that, the guy gets nothing but praise and respect from fellow GM's and execs. Process.

I'm pretty sure he was here last year to serve in somewhat of a teaching role as he had experience in McDermott's system. I could be mistaken, but didn't they offer Johnson another one-year deal to stay here? If they didn't offer him a deal at that time, they won't offer one now. Far as I can tell they seem pretty pleased with Taron's progress.

They like Lacey for special teams and his coverage ability. Haven't read up on Orchard recently but I think if he comes here he can be a versatile piece and we know McBeane love them that versatility. Orchard can play on the edge as well as some SAM. We'll see what they think of him by the end of the day.

Right? I mean, I'm all for constructive criticism on the regime and the organization but it feels like way too many people aren't putting this sh*t in perspective. First thing, there is no winning with Bills fans. OK, some fans, not all. No matter what the team does, there will always be people who wanna whine about stuff. This organization has a mess of a cap thanks to lopsided deals given by Doug Whaley. He re-signed Glenn, Hughes and Dareus when those guys were playing at a high level. He did well in pleasing the player side of contract negotiations but neglected to draw up these contracts with an out for the team. Furthermore, had he not thrown down big money for those three players, the same crowd that's whining now would've been whining back then, all "There they go again, letting their best players walk for nothin'!" Whaley had a good eye for talent. However, he did not have a solid team-building philosophy. He took players from big time programs that always win and assumed that type of winning culture would spill over into their locker room. His contracts weren't great even though he held onto their top talent. Either way, lose-lose according to the fans. So what do these fans do? Piss and moan relentlessly for the organization to "tear it all down, clean house, clean house NNNOoooOOOOoooWWawwWWWww! SccRrrRRRreeEeeeeEEEE!" What does the organization do? They hire McBeane who proceeds to come in and do exactly that. Cleaned house of crappy contracts, cleaned house of players that weren't buying in, collected enough assets in the process to position themselves to take the kid they believe is their franchise quarterback, all while ending a 17-year playoff drought. At the end of last season, you couldn't find a drop of process in WNY because it'd been gobbled up by this fanbase. And now a few days from the 2018 season kicking off, some people don't like a few decisions and now they're barfing up the process all over the place. "We don't like this kind of process, give us a different one, wahhh!!" In the immortal words of Cousin Eddie: You serious, Clark? For real, GTFO of here if you can't suck it up and take a few lumps and let these guys do their frickin jobs. For the first time in a loooonnngggg time this organization has stability from the top down. Running the show are two extremely well respected individuals who have work ethics that are off the friggin charts. You want lazy Rex back in here? How 'bout old Buddy "I need mah sleeps!" Nix? McBeane have been parts of winning organizations as well as losing ones. I'mma go out on a limb here and say they have a better idea at how to build a SUSTAINABLE winning team. Key word: sustainable. It was great to hit the playoffs last year. Massive monkey off their backs right off the bat, how you gonna find a way to B word about that? But again, sustainability has been something they've preached since day one. In order to get that sustainability you gotta go thru a season, maybe two where you're taking your lumps while sorting out the puzzle. This season is about development and it's about them recognizing which guys are gonna be the core, the foundation for this team in the future. I ain't saying everyone needs to be on board with everything McBeane does 100%. I'm not a fan of every move they've made but I understand what they're trying to achieve and during the entire drought, I rarely if ever had a decent understanding of what the team was trying to do likely because of the lack of cohesion at the top. Can't fix everything in one year. And guess what? No team is 100% "fixed." No matter the record, there's always room for improvement. The McBeane Show has been in town for all of about 20 months and some of you are like, "Pff, they don't have 17 Lombardi Trophy's yet so they can get lost!" Please. If you can't trust the process at least respect it and let these cats do their thing. Yeesh.

This fanbase sucks.

He's kinda like Fitz, let's see if he can recognize his limitations unlike Fitz.

Different regime but he was here in 2015 on a pre-draft visit and I recall hearing that they had him targeted in round three but the Brownies took him in the second. Could be a solid rotational player.

They evaluated and said, "Foster makes the cut." Ta-da.

I still feel like they hang onto him to give him a bit more time to get in the groove. They know they really don't have any speed at WR aside from him.

Laaaaaaaaaaaame. Let the kid keep getting reps, they're gonna have to make a decision on when to make it his team anyway.

I think it's been pretty clear that this team is rebuilding/reshaping/reforming, whatever term you wanna use. Their first step was constructing a locker room with players that have the type of character they're looking for. Players that didn't wanna buy in, or players that were more about personal achievement than the team were shuffled out. After that they unloaded contracts that were killing their cap. The next step was putting themselves in position to draft who they believe is their franchise QB. They did what they had to do and pulled the trigger. In the midst of this, they lost two players they didn't expect to lose with Wood and Incognito (although you can argue that they were prepared to move on from Incognito due to them asking him to take a pay cut) and so the OL is not where they want it to be. But, I think it's also been pretty clear since day one is that they want to build their defense first, which makes complete sense. A young QB's best friends are a strong defense and a strong running game. They *could* be a top 10 defense this year if everything comes together. And McCoy, despite numerous scheme changes and different OL personnel in front of him, has managed to rack up over 1K yards in two out of his three seasons here. They knew they weren't going to be throwing the ball a whole lot with Taylor yet they still invested in Benjamin and Jones. Maybe Jones turns the corner, maybe Benjamin finds his 2014 form, maybe not. They are addressing needs based on their priority list, not ours. Perhaps they felt the players they had in the OL room would be able to step up and replace Wood/Incognito. It's been a rough pre-season for the OL but again, it's pre-season. I mean, regardless of how they wanna rebuild this thing, it's gonna take time. There are gonna be growing pains. There are gonna be a lot of busted TV remotes this year as they go flying across the living room while fans rage. It's been said since the early off-season, not many people think the Bills are contenders for 2018, but moreso for 2019 when their cap is cleared up and set to provide them with plenty of space to fill holes via free agency. I'm good with the process, it just takes patience. The one part of the process I'm not so good on right now is the constant personnel shuffling, especially with the OL. At a certain point they have to make up their mind and name their center and guards. We know the tackle spots belong to Dawkins and Mills. Who's playing interior OL then? Is it Groy, Ducasse and Miller? Is it Bodine/Ducasse/Miller? Is it Bodine/Groy/Ducasse? Bodine/Groy/Miller? Does Teller find his way in there? I dunno but they need to figure it out and name their top five and let those guys start working together. All the penalties and miscues last Sunday can be attributed to the fact that the five OL that started the game have not had a substantial amount of reps together. And then from series to series they're trying this guy here, that guy there, flipping guard spots so those players have to switch up their technique in the middle of a game. Yes, they're pros and yes they should be able to adjust but if you're playing one position for most of a game and get flipped to the other side where things are opposite, it can definitely throw you off your game. It could be a long season for us fans but hopefully it's all for the best. I just need to not see "FIRE ABSOLUTELY EVERY SINGLE MOTHERFRIGGIN' PERSON IN THIS ORGANIZATION!!!!!!!11111111" after every loss or rough game. Anyone thinking that McBeane is gonna be shown the door after this season, think again. The Pegulas absolutely love those guys and are willing to let them see their vision through for quite a long time. Let them do their work. Can't fix everything in one or two seasons.