Shaw66

Well, one is always going to be the best, and that's likely Oliver. But McD wants guys who cause problems all across the dline, and he seems to have about 6 or 7 or 8 of them now.

interesting comment. I think that's the kind of Dline they want, too.

I like this. Another guy with experience at multiple positions.

True. But it depends as much on the line as on the back. Taiwan Jones is good enough if the line plays well. Said for emphasis, not as my choice.

OOH!!! Thanks for being patient with me. I misunderstood. Absolutely agree there - a top 5 guy in the draft is a guy who should be able to help and who could even be Singletary's equal. Everything you say makes sense. I think the Bills can get by with less than a top 5 guy, but a top 5 guy would be ideal, for all the reasons you say.

Gaines is not a guy you plan on as your next young guy behind Wallace. If he wins the job from Wallace, it means Wallace doesn't have a future, and Gaines will be gone in a couple of years. I'm just saying, you're going to see more youth in camp than you see on the roster right now. That's true for all positions, but it's particularly true with defensive backs. I don't know if I imagined it, but I think Beane once said something like 'you need to take a defensive back in the draft every year."

There's going to be a rookie in the mix somewhere, challenging for time, too. Bills won't go through the next couple of months without signing a drafted or free agent rookie. The position requires depth, but it also requires young depth.

Well, I think that's fine if you can find a top 5 RB, but it certainly isn't necessary and it isn't the same thing as what happened to the receivers. Singletary was fourth in the league in yards per attempt, and he was decent in yards per reception. His performance was fine as a #1 back; he just didn't get enough attempts. So you can get more or less the same effect by getting an effective guy behind Singletary. Doesn't have to be a top 5 or top 10 or even a top 20 running back. Most of the top 7-8 running backs weren't even on serious playoff teams. Those guys are really good, no doubt, but being a top runner doesn't correlate with winning. KC and SF didn't have a ball carrier close to the top 10. Minnesota went more or less nowhere with Peterson all those years. Bills need someone to spell Singletary. If they find someone who's a nice fit and effective, the guy can split time with Singletary. But the guy doesn't have to be a star. If I could find a second Singletary, I'd take him in a heartbeat. There are any number of scenarios. Imagine Christian Wade as Darren Sproles. I know, I know, Christian Wade blah, blah, blah. I get that, but he's tough, quick, fast and shifty, which is exactly what made Darren Sproles a spectacular number 2 back for about ten years. The point is, there are a lot of guys who can be the #2 effectively. It doesn't have to be Singletary as #2 to Saquon Barkley.

Outstanding point! Don't think I've ever heard anyone say that. Every team has a culture. But not every culture is a winning culture. McDermott is trying to build and maintain a winning culture.

You know, I used to subscribe to this kind of thinking, and I think there's a lot of merit to this approach. But that is NOT how McBeane are operating. I don't think you'll see them making player personnel decisions based on the strengths of opponents, especially opponents outside the AFCE. They're approach is to build a team that plays football really well, that is really good at adapting their play week-to-week to address the next challenge. In some ways, their approach is like the approach John Wooden and other good coaches have taken: we're going to be really good at what we do, and we'll let other teams worry about how to match up with us. Beane isn't taking a DB in round 2 because KC has good receivers. Beane's taking BPA in round 2 and challenging other teams to beat the Bills with his rookie round 2 BPA guy on the field.

That's a very interesting take, and you might be right. Maybe Allen already is a really good NFL QB and the problem has been that he's had a substandard group of players around him. I've been saying for a week what you said - the receiving corps got better at 3 positions with Diggs being added. And Singletary should be a mature NFL back. And the oline should be better. But just watching Allen tells me that a big part of the problem with the offense has been Allen, not the other 10. His job is to to get everything right, every play. That's presnap reads, postsnap reads, decision making, pocket presence, mechanics. It's all gotta be right, and last year he didn't look to me like he had all of that under control yet. He didn't perform, play after play, the way Brees or Rodgers or Brady perform, play after play. I don't think it was about the supporting cast. I think it was Allen. I think he will improve. He's still growing and learning, and he has the right attitude about it. The improved supporting cast will cause his play to improve, for sure, but I think he has to grow, too. If he doesn't grow, I don't think the surrounding cast will make the Bills a big winner.

You know, I've never listened much to Orlovsky, and I see comments like this all the time. Connecticut boy! I'll go look for him.

You know, I'm really excited about the Bills. I think they're on the verge of greatness. However, I think the love around the country for the Stefon Diggs deal shows us why it's more or less worthless to read the national press about the Bills. And once you realize it's worthless about the Bills, you realize it's probably worthless about any other team. What have we, the people who follow the Bills, known about them since the end of the season? More or less, here's what: 1. Josh Allen still needs to be a lot better. He could do do it, but he hasn't yet. He needs to keep learning. 2. The oline made good progress last season but isn't there yet. Since the Bills didn't help the oline in free agency and traded away the #1 pick, there probably isn't help on the way. Continuity and coaching better be the answer. 3. The receivers weren't good enough, including tight end. Diggs should solve the wideout problem. the tight end room is still filled with unproven players. 4. The defensive line was good last year, lost two key contributors, added three promising guys and has Harrison Philips coming back. 5. The linebackers were shallow and lost Alexander. Klein should help, but the Bills need at least one other guy who can contribute there. 6. The Bills would like to upgrade the #2 corner position and get some depth at safety. Norman might help, but he's at best a question today. As excited as I am, it's pretty obvious that Stefon Diggs doesn't answer the QB question. Yes, he might make life easier for Allen, but the objective for Allen is to be a good quarterback, not to be a mediocre quarterback whose numbers are okay because his receivers are great. Diggs doesn't answer the oline questions. Diggs doesn't answer any of the defensive questions. Great move, I love it, all of that, but the press sells stars to the fans, and the fans buy it. So the press all of a sudden is saying look out for the Bills because they got Diggs. If it turns out that the Bills are seriously good in 2020, Diggs will be only a small part of the explanation. People bash Chris Simms, but the fact of the matter is that does his homework and he sees teams as they really are. So in his podcast, yes, he gushed some about Diggs, but his focus was on the defensive acquisitions. That's a more mature way to look at what the Bills did over the past couple of weeks.

Thanks for the response I get what you're saying about rb, and I agree. I just think it could be done by committee or with any warm body. Edge I don't agree. McD wants four guys who can stop he run and have some success getting to the qb. There only are one or two Garretts or Macks, and Mcd's model is designed so he doesn't need a star to make it work. McD wants guys like Lawson, with good size good speed and who are good athletes, but with better work ethic. So I don't think you're gonna get a star on the edge, except by accident. You're gonna get lunchpail guys, and McD knows he can win with them.

thanks for doing this. I think your first piece is exactly on the money. Bills aren't going anyplace unless Allen performs at a higher level. I think your second and third pieces COULD be part of taking the team to the top, but aren't necessary. Who's to say that they need a solid second running back? I mean, sure, most good teams have some kind of one two punch, but maybe Singletary becomes a full-fledged three-down back and is spelled by a committee. Yes, I hope they have a good #2 guy, a guy who puts up 500 yards and catches some balls, but it doesn't have to be that way. And edge rusher? You just got done telling us the Bills had 44 sackes and 54 led the league. What did those 54 sacks get the Steelers? It's really easy to imagine a team that gets 44 sacks again this year and gets good pressure from the line - there are no weak links on the line, and winning big. I just don't see why the Bills have to get 10 more sacks to win the Super Bowl. KC won the Super Bowl last year with 45 sacks, so won't it be enough if the Bills get just one more?

Thank you for taking the time to let us know. We're all sorry for your loss. When the Bills win the Super Bowl, it's going to be for all the fans, and it will be for your husband, too. Remember the good times.

If you don't know Stratton, this is a really good couple of minutes about him. Interesting that Stratton said the 64 Bills were about coming together as a team. It wasn't the players, but the team. Also interesting that he gives so much credit to Maguire.

I think what you said is just right. Give it time, it will happen. It's hard to watch that video and come to any other conclusion. This guy is spectacular. When he gets a little more consistent, play after play, he's going to be a big winner. He throws like a winner, he runs like a winner, he leads like a winner.

Who in their right mind would trade Watson?

Jackson was third in the league in passer rating. If Allen had been third, the Bills would have won the Super Bowl. Hard to say Allen is the better passer.

Wow, there's a guy not afraid to make bold statements. Good to see someone outside of Buffalo paying attention.

I'm not a McKenzie fan. I don't think he runs routes well, and I think he catches only the easiest of throws, in rhythm, on target, etc. But at the same time, there's something about that makes him like Tasker. I never liked Tasker as a receiver, either, but then he'd make a play. Then he'd make another play. McKenzie is sort of like that. It seems like he's on the field for 15 or 20 plays, total, offense and special teams, and he always makes a play or two. He's not the best at anything, in fact sometimes I think he's only barely adequate. But he's barely adequate at a lot of things, and that's valuable. Punt and kick returner, wideout, deep threat, slot receiver, jet sweep specialist, maybe running back in a single wing set for a play or two. So, yeah, I can agree with those who say that, other than Diggs, the receiving corps hasn't improved with McKenzie part of it. But the team may have improved by having him on the roster. He's an unusual player.

I agree about Allen. And I agree generally about Beasley, although he will get deep for you when the defense makes a mistake. He has something like Chris Hogan speed - he's not blowing past people, but he'll hurt you deep from time to time. There aren't many teams that have a slot guy who's a true burner. If you've got a 4.4 guy, you're desperately trying to get him to be 1 or a 2. If he can't do either of those, he probably isn't a 3, either. Think Marquise Goodwin or TJ Graham. Now, if you're KC, you have the luxury being able to run Tyreek Hill out of the slot sometime, and he's deadly there, but the only way a team runs Hill out of the slot is because they have enough other talent to "waste" him there from time to time. Fitzgerald always could have been a great slot receiver, but no team was willing to move him there until he wasn't quite good enough to be a serious 1 or 2. In other words, in terms of the kind of guys most teams are able to run in the slot, Beasley is about as good as they come. Edelman, of course, and a few others, but Beasley is right up there.

The final wideouts on the roster could be any one of several different groups. Each group says something about the kind of football McDermott wants to play. If McKenzie is on the final 53 it will say the Bills want to play different styles, McKenzie is useful in different ways. Foster says they want the speed. Williams says that possession is important to them. And could be a rookie added to the mix.

I agree. I think Trubisky is a good example. Allen is a year behind him. This is a prove it year for Trubisky. 2021 could be a prove it year for Allen. But not 2020.