harmonkillebrew

It sure is looking more and more like that. But I have to put some of the failure on Beane too.

Grateful for what they've done to this point. But that doesn't give them an eternal license to come up short. If they don't make more progress this year, we should try another route.

I've been a Bills fan a LONG time too. I've suffered through a lot. What gets me impatient is that we have the answer at QB. Josh is so frigging good. Better than Kelly, imho. What is holding us back is coaching and decision-making. I appreciate where Beane/McD got us to. Forever grateful. But I want more and I don't think they have it.

You're probably right. But it did seem like pressure ramped up on McD mid-season last year. I think the team's resolve in turning it around reflects well on him as a leader of men, but also masked the underlying flaws in the philosophy. Fans should not be complacent if it doesn't so well this year. With JA at QB a lot of coaches could do what McD has done, but a really good one could take us to the next level.

I agree. They've had enough time. Anything wrong with the team/roster now, is solely due to them. This offseason they've doubled-down on their philosophy of conservative offensive, despite a generational talent at QB. It's make or break. If we don't get past the divisional round AGAIN, it's time to give another HC and probably GM a chance to put us over the hump.

Harty wasn't really a big swing, more like a bunt. Guy had not been very productive prior. But they did overpay him. Sherfield was also more of a lukewarm attempt. 1yr deal. No real prior production. If they planned to let Gabe walk you think they would have invested a draft pick last year in a replacement. They got Kincaid instead. Other good teams surround their QBs with talent. Look at Philly, Cinci, SF, Ravens. KC is the only one that trended away from that last year, but this year they're back at it with Hollywood Brown and Worthy as additions. It all adds up to a FO/HC that doesn't seem to want Josh to throw downfield. Are they trying to hem him in due to the INTs?

I think the point of the drill is not to show how fast you are, but to show how fluidly a prospect can catch multiple passes while on the move. It's not accurate to then use it to gauge relative game speed. What's a better metric is actual GPS game speed data. Found this, I'm sure there's more online. 2024 WRs PlayerTop Speed Xavier Worthy22.7 Troy Franklin22.3 Xavier Legette22.3 Marvin Harrison Jr.22.2 Brenden Rice22.1 Javon Baker21.7 Anthony Gould21.6 Ladd McConkey21.4 Brian Thomas Jr.21.4 Jalen McMillan21.3 Tahj Washington21.1 Jamari Thrash21 Jalen Coker20.9 Ja'Lynn Polk20.2 Keon Coleman19.6 Oldman (formerly indybillsfan) called me thickheaded. he seems a little grumpy

Guys are focused on catching the ball, not running fast. Coleman ran so fast he was out of bounds by the last ball. Don't be such a grumpy old man. Bills still need a boundary WR (or two) and maybe a new GM/HC

McD always trying to protect his fragile D, keep them off the field, while the Offense has slow, excruciating drives that result in a missed FG

There should only be one (ok two) person offloaded - Beane/McDermott. This latest offseason is just further evidence these guys have no clue. If Josh doesn't will us to the AFC Championship or SB this year, Pegula should axe them. We are missing out on a generational opportunity with these yo-yos in charge.

Haha, its true, he was entirely out of bounds on that last ball. I like his competitiveness though.

I think your conclusion is right. It seems to be the strategy given the personnel priorities. But it's a huge error, imho. We have a QB that can exploit any part of the field, yet they're hemming him in to only play conservative between the numbers, underneath football.

What the commentators said, was a lack of trust/confidence in their hands. Others were going slow to make sure they didn't have a drop. Coleman was hitting it. Which is a good sign of his confidence and competitiveness. But doesn't mean he's fast. He does seem to have good short area speed, given his 10yd split and gauntlet speed, but the long speed is not there (hence consistent 4.62 40 and tape showing him blanketed on downfield routes)

We on the same page, man. Also have fingers crossed for June 1, but knowing Beane/McD they'll probably prioritize a rotational D-line signing

exactly. While it's good to see, it just means he was going for it at the combine drills while others were dogging it. I like that competitiveness, but his lack of long speed shows up on his tapes pretty clearly. Get in to your thick heads people, he's not fast. He will not be running go routes or taking the tops off of defenses. So we will be faced with the same issue as last year, where Defenses collapse on the short stuff. But he could/should excel underneath. He might end up more like Anquan Bolden - thriving underneath and breaking tackles to get 1st downs.

It makes all the difference in getting, but especially, maintaining separation on go routes, deep posts, and other late breaking, deeper routes. It also makes CBs have to play you differently know that threat is always there. Slower, big-bodied, possession college WRs simply can't win jump balls against much better, faster and stronger NFL CBs. Coleman's tape shows NO separation on deeper routes against college CBs. But he could excel at intermediate or short routes in the NFL if he perfects his trade and learns to run routes with precision. His general athleticism (and ideally confidence and work ethic) should compensate for the lack of long speed. Most of his good stuff is from the slot. So we'll have a bevy of slot, middle of the field guys and at this point no boundary WRs.

It's definitely not. That part of our game is gone. We are a full ball control, plod down the field team now, unless Cook or Samuel break one. That video confirmed what I've been saying. He gets no separation on the outside on deep/intermediate. But he will be good in the big slot role getting short area separation while out-muscling smaller slot CBs. He's not your classic #1.

Not sure of all the picks, but I would have done a few differently. When Brian Thomas dropped to the 20s I assumed a patented Beane move up was in the works. I would have tried hard to snag him. Don't know if the Bills did or not. But giving up the 2025 2nd we got for Diggs might have been the price and I would have paid it. I also would have tried to package those multiple 5th/6th rounders to move up again into the 4th or 3rd. Reportedly the value from Rds5-7 was not great this year. I definitely wouldn't have traded DOWN in the 5th like the Bills did. Pick 22: WR Brian Thomas, LSU - Bills trade #28 and 2025 2nd rounder with Eagles for #22 Pick 60: S Cole Bishop, Utah (same as Bills) 3rd Rd: I did like the KC trade in that it gave us a 3rd, but in this scenario its not there Pick 128: RB, Isaac Guerendo, Louisville Pick 141: WR, Anthony Gould, Oregon ..... The DE Javon Soloman and C/G Van Pran_Granger picks were solid and I would have taken them with our other picks if available, but if not I'm sure there was another guy worthy of the 5th/6th round flyer. Mekhi Wingo, DT was a guy I liked as a backup to Oliver. He went in the 6th Zion Logue, DT is a mountain and also could have been worth a 6th round flyer

hahaha. except NFL drafting is hardly a science. They've been screwing it up for so long, despite better data. See EJ, Mike Williams, Elam, Basham, Brady, Purdy, etc... When you know you don't have access to the right data, you have to employ other strategies besides pure trust in your analysis. Like your draft better. I wouldn't have gone McConkey (another slot) at 33 except that you were committed to adding an X in Rd 3.

Agree entirely. Bishop being the exception

People are overly fixated on the Benjamin-Coleman comparison. That's not the point. The point is Beane's tendency to draft bigger, slower WRs, going back to his time with Carolina where he was involved in drafting two of those types, and then trading a 3rd to bring the guy he drafted (Benjamin) to Buffalo. It's not about Coleman v. Benjamin per se. It's not the players themselves that are linked, it's the GM. Beane used his one WR draft pick shot on a guy that follows a failed trend he's used in the past. I appreciate that Cover 1 video and some of the data points the it put out. It helped me see more of his athleticism. But there are still two traits that are lacking - downfield speed and separation ability on mid/deeper routes. His initial quickness should help in the power slot role and on short routes. He'll be a reliable short field option with potential to break tackles and get YAC. But we've already got 3 of those guys. It seems the Bills are giving up on attacking downfield, trying to open up more intermediate/deep routes with faster guys with strong route running and separation. The Bills passed up a number of WRs that were higher rated. Even the Cover 1 guys, while trying to hype up Keon, said he was their 8/9th rated WR. The Bills seemed fixated on Coleman and passed up opportunities to be more aggressive, including hedging their bets by doubling down on a WR with a more boundary, downfield skill set. Really stinks to see the Bills piss away Josh's talent with paltry WR talent. Burrow has Chase, Higgins, and Boyd; Philly traded for AJ Brown then still drafted Devonta Smith. 49ers have Ayiuk, Deebo, and still drafted Pearsall. Ravens are constantly adding talent for Lamar, who is a much less talented passer than Josh. All those teams have gone farther than the Bills in the playoffs, including SB, consistently. And we have a rookie WR (2nd round pick) that we're banking on to step in as our #1 WR. It's an utter fail.

high character guy

I've been reading a few reports suggesting Coleman's skill set maps well to a power slot. Quickness at the line and strength/size to outcompete smaller slot CBs. Could be a real good recipe in the red zone. But now we have 4 slot WRs and 0 true boundary WRs. Are we just not going to work outside the numbers? Last season Gabe and Diggs were our boundary WRs (although Diggs played more and more in the slot). Both gone, no real boundary WR replacement except Coleman. I'm not down on Coleman per se, but he follows a Beane trend that hasn't worked out well before. If Beane had gotten another WR in the draft to complement Coleman's traits or signed a boundary WR in FA it would make sense. Still hoping that other shoe drops....

Makes the draft strategy a little more clear. Character guys and volume over skill and quality.

This thread is about Beane's seeming tendency, across many years, to like big-bodied slower WRs and maybe also slower RBs that run between the tackles. The similarities are there. Is Beane out of step offensively? Is McDermott? The Bills have taken a lukewarm approach to surrounding Josh with explosive weapons, since the Diggs trade. It's been a long standing issue. Gabe was a 4th rounder. That same draft (2020) they drafted AJ Epenesa and Zack Moss in the 2nd and 3rd (eerily similar RB/WR pattern to this year) The next draft it was 2 DEs in the top 2 rounds. There was a glaring WR need this year and it feels like the Bills had the wrong priorities. Didn't make us faster or deeper at WR. I might have changed my tune if they had drafted Franklin or Tez Walker in the 3rd/4th. But to just roll with Coleman seems risky.