Shaw66

It's easy to forget how hobbled the Bills were against KC. At receiver, and at running back.

Fair enough about the verbal gymnastics. Maybe I'm only reporting how the deals struck me, at the time or with hindsight. I was thrilled when the Bills signed Hyde. I thought he was a star. The Bills presumably paid top dollar for him, whatever the price, because those were the days when free agents weren't anxious to come to Buffalo. In hindsight, it's pretty obvious that Hyde was an important piece, maybe the most important piece, to anchor the defense. Morse has underperformed, but I think the Bills knew there was a good chance he'd be no more than he's been. He never was junkyard-dog-type interior lineman. So, I don't think the Bills thought he was going to be a star - just a solid all-round type in the middle. I won't be surprised if the Bills bring someone to camp to challenge him, and I wouldn't be surprised if Beane told you that he knew it was a real possibility two years ago. Star was a known commodity. He wasn't going to be some super-stud difference maker in the middle. He was going to be solid and a good presence in the locker room. The Bills paid for that, but they didn't pay like they paid for Diggs.

I agree. Beane may tell you everything he's thinking, but what he does tell you is what he's thinking about that particular subject. I WAS fooled, however, when he talked about Milano going to test the market. Usually when Beane says something like that, it means that the guy is gone. It's what he said about Shaq last season, and Philips. However, what probably happened this year is that Milano found out that the market wasn't nearly as attractive as he'd expected it to be.

As I just said about Morse, and I think it's true about Star, the Bills may have hoped they would emerge as core players for the Bills. That is, they knew that these guys had potential to be difference makers, but they didn't expect them to be difference makers like they expected Diggs to be a difference maker. They were guys who met the need at the position and might turn out to be more. I think McDermott expected Hyde to be what he became - the anchor for the defense. I think Hyde was one of the exceptions to the rule - Hyde was expected to be a free agent difference maker. Diggs, although not a free agent, was the other. Brown, Beasley, Addison, Butler, Murphy, Feliciano, Williams, Norman, and plenty of others were all in hole-filler category, just like several other free agents who ultimately didn't make the team. Free agency is simply not where the Bills look for major talent, generally. Watt would have been an exception. So, what the Bills are doing/not doing in the free agent market shouldn't be a surprise, especially in a season when cap space is tight and the Bills had players they wanted to keep. Why put yourself in a position to go replace a Williams or Milano in free agency why you already have the guy?

They're all role players, not core stars. Sign ten, keep eight for a year, cut a couple, keep a few. Whatever you call them, they aren't difference makers. Morse is the one guy they might have thought would emerge as a true core player, but now I think they'd move him as soon as a better option came along.

Beane has been clear repeatedly: Free agency is for filling holes. He is always bargain hunting. He isn't looking for difference makers. Happy to find one, but the draft is where he looks for difference makers.

Pope Fitz I!!! Love it!

I like that Mindset starts a thread with an inflammatory post and then doesn't run and hide. He's been back to defend himself. I disagree with the negativism. I always do, I know, but this time I have some points, one point really, that I think is important: McDermott's approach is about the Growth Mindset. That's what the Bills have been promoting this month, but it isn't a new public relations gimmick. The Growth Mindset is at the core of McD's beliefs and his culture. It's about everyone in the organization wanting to get better every day, as a team and as individuals. If you're about the Growth Mindset, you don't need to be about getting a better player at every position all the time. Talent is a revolving door - most of the players on the team come and go within three years. As Beane says, you use free agency to plug holes, you use the draft to get better talent. Free agency is just part of the revolving door - you want to get your core players in the draft. Poyer and Hyde were the exceptions - they jump started the team. But White, Dawkins, Milano, Edmunds, Allen all came through the draft. Diggs was the lone exception in recent years. The Growth Mindset is about each player working to get better every year, seriously working at it. Sure, guys on other teams do that too, but in Buffalo it is an attitude. Every player in Buffalo gets up every morning intending to make himself a better player that day. That's what McD preaches, and McBeane only get and keep players who operate that way. That's at the core of the culture. But what's more important about the Growth Mindsent is team improvement. McDermott and his players expect his 2021 offense and defense to do all the things they did in 2020, PLUS improvements. They come to work every day learning more about how to play together, more about how to attack defenses and more about how to stop offenses. This isn't new. This is what McDermott has said about his approach since he got to Buffalo. The Growth Mindset is how McDermott intends to have sustained excellence. He doesn't expect his team to get better and then get worse as talent comes and goes. He expects that there will be a continuing knowledge base that is being built on constantly, year after year, a knowledge base that new players learn their way into over a couple of seasons. Ford and Oliver and Epenesa are all in the that process, and the expectation is that they will play 2021 with an even better understanding of the game and their roles. It's the Growth Mindset that will make the 2021 Bills better than 2020, not some free agent acquisition.

Fitz for President!!!

It works both ways - some great players do it with talent, some do it with brains. Brady and Fitzpatrick, for example, are two of the least physically gifted players in the league. Jimmy Leonhard couldn't compare physically with safeties around the league, but he played forwith brains for ten years. McBeane want smart players. I'm sure Knox's Wonderlic was one of the positives they saw in him when they drafted him. Whether he makes it as a serious threat, of course, depends on more than just brains. He has to catch the ball consistently, among other things.

I think the Wonderlic is important. I think pro football is about scheme and coaching, and the smart guys who can thing fast are important for coaches to have on the field. Josh had a high Wonderlic - I think it's particularly important for QBs. The announcers say that one thing that makes Kelce so valuable is that he's a former QB and thinks like one. So, I think brains are important part of Knox's game, if he's going to be a success.

Dawson Knox had the second highest Wonderlic of tight ends in his draft class.

First, I doubt Knox will ever be Kelce. Kelce is a special combination of size, speed, hands, and intelligence. Knox doesn't catch the ball as well as Kelce, and he hasn't shown the intelligence yet, although I think that may still be coming. He also doesn't have Kelce's size, but he may still grow some. But beyond Kelce's skills is the Chiefs' scheme. The Chiefs threaten defenses with so much good, deep speed that defenses are forced to have their linebackers cover a lot of space underneath. When you have a really good, smart TE and a smart QB, there's a lot of territory to attack, and that's what the Chiefs do. The Bills don't threaten teams with the same level of great wideout talent (would have been interesting to see a healthy Brown in 2020), so Knox didn't have the wide open spaces that Kelce sees week after week. How do you stop the Chiefs' attack? Tampa Bay did it with merciless pass rush. They put Mahomes under a lot of pressure, play after play, rushing four, and that made life miserable for him. Linebackers could play Kelce tight, and Mahomes often didn't have time for Kelce to outrun the linebackers to open spaces. Kelce still caught his 10 passes, but Kelce was the only option who was getting open before the rush drove Mahomes from the pocket. As I said, I think it's scheme and complementary weapons, but you may be correct about Knox. He seems a bit like a loose cannon. But the Bills don't usually draft meatheads; they draft smart guys with worth ethic, so Knox may have the ability to grow into more than we've seen out of him so far. 2021 is the year we'll see whether he has real potential beyond what you say.

Black and white striped socks on the Broncos at the first game in 1960.

That's interesting. Thanks for responding. Obviously, I don't know what the Bills are thinking, but I have a theory. I think building a team from year to year, and it is different from year to year, is a challenge. You have perceived needs, and you have opportunities to fill those needs. You don't build to a particular visions; you have to adjust the vision as things develop. The Bills know they need some work on the defensive line. They thought Watt could transform the line in a way that fit their vision, and they thought if they had a transformative player on the D line, then they could find solutions at linebacker. When Watt didn't come to Buffalo, the vision had to change. They apparently don't think there's another transformative D lineman out there, I guess. So the next vision is to be outstanding at linebacker and find the right role players on the D line. As I said, I don't know any of that, but it's a good bet that if Watt had signed, Milano was gone, and McDermott would have been looking for a different solution at linebacker. I don't know the free agent D line talent at all, but I think that no one out there is a high probability transformative player except Watt. Watt was the kind of option you might have wanted the Bills to spend on. The Bills apparently don't think there's another similar option out there. Once they lost Watt, they had to pursue a different vision. That means the Bills likely will do what they did last year - shop for a bunch of different linemen and try to put together an effective line. Didn't work last year, but in the Bills' defense, losing Star left them with a hole they hadn't planned on. We don't know what they think they can get from Epenesa in year 2. We don't know what they think they can get from Oliver in year 3. They Bills may be looking for pieces that fit with them. Watt was going to cause some dominoes to fall, like Milano, maybe Hughes. Maybe without Watt, Hughes is secure. The point is, building a team is a constant work in progress, and it's fluid and changing. It seems that Watt was option A, MIlano was option B.

I'm not telling you the Bills will have a solution to these problems you cite, but linebacker was in no case going to be the solution. Pressuring the QB in stopping the run are primarily front-four issues in this defense.

I'm with you.

Hmm. That's impressive. Still, Beane used words describing Milano going to the market that he's used in the past when he knows he isn't going to match what the guy will get in the market. So, I'd bet they keep Williams.

Yeah, add Lynch, McGahee and Henry to the list. Amazing collection of ball carriers.

Fair enough; I can't say I studied either team closely. But the point is still the same: although Ben is at the end of his career, the Steelers' problems last year weren't primarily Ben. With the right surrounding cast, Ben would have been fine. As someone pointed out, the Steelers' problem is the same as the Patriots' problem: an aging, under-talented and a HOF QB about to disappear, albeit for different reasons.

Oh, I think his body could deliver. I think his offense was a broken down mess, one dimensional and predictable. I don't Ben was physically worse than Rivers. Rivers couldn't throw worth a darn, and he's never been mobile. But he had a creative offensive coach, and he was fine.

I agree, too. Everyone undervalues brains and experience. Look at what Rivers did last season. Brissett couldn't do that, and Rivers arm is no better than Brissett's. And Brissett is much more mobile. But Rivers, like Ben, thinks about the game at a very high level. Good move by Steelers while they try to figure out who's next.

I think this is true. He seems to have learned from several of his bad decisions, which is not to say that he won't make more in the future. But he's smarter, and he's become more thoughtful, over the years. And Buffalo had something to with that. He left his roots when he came to Buffalo, and he learned that people would love him just for being Shady. He didn't need to bring along all of his old life to have us love him. Buffalo gave him the opportunity to get some distance from the world he grew up in, the opportunity to leave some of it behind. He saw the opportunity, and he took it. As for the comment about being the best Bills running back since Thurman, well, yeah, probably. Freddie might have something to say about that. Bills fans have been blessed to have the running backs we've had. I've started threads from time to time about the Bills maybe having the best all-time stable of running backs in the league. Cookie, OJ, Cribbs, Thurman, Freddie, and Shady. Rank them any way you want, but one of Shady, Cribbs, or Freddie is the 6th best running back in the history of the franchise. What other team has a #6 that good?

I'm sorry to hear about your loss. You will have those great memories for the rest of your life, and every Sunday in the fall you'll think of her fondly. In many ways, including through the Bills, she will live on. And when the Bills win the Super Bowl, if you're like me, you'll think of her and you'll cry. My best wishes to you and your family.

Listen to Shady. Every time I hear something like this, it takes my appreciation of Josh to another level. Listen to him. Shady's essentially saying Josh is the most all-round dominant athlete he's ever seen. Amazing.