Shaw66

Thanks for these tidbits. I enjoy having some understanding of what these guys are thinking, and you're giving us all a chance to understand. Great stuff. As I listen to McBeane, I continue to be impressed. They can't be right about every judgment about players, but they have a good reason for every decision they make. And their reasons are all driven by a consistent and thoughtful team-building process. Thanks again.

Man, there's the process on display. Read those quotes. McDermott wants guys obsessed with winning and doing everything they can to win. Everything, even if it's being a hoorah guy. When McDermott has a room full of those guys, McDermott thinks he can accomplish anything, because the effort turns into a 100% team effort. No one cares about himself. This isn't a mindset that McDermott wants to teach. It's a mindset he wants hard wired into the guys he has on his team. He may need to remind them from time to time that that's who they are, but he doesn't want a guy he has to convince about this philosophy. Dawkins has it. They wanted Allen because he has it. Oliver has it. Beasley has it. Shady and Gore have it. Hyde has it. Kyle had it. Ford and Knox and Sills have it. You can hear it in how they talk about who they and what they do. McBeane are building a team of guys who all say the same thing: "Let's get to work."

That's really interesting. Hadn't made the connection. Offensive line - nasty. LInebackers - speed. There is a mold.

I will add to that. No. McBeane are not about making a wild dash to win a Super Bowl followed by a decline. They're building to get on top and stay on top. You can't stay on top mortgaging your future.

It feels off to me, too. I didn't follow him, and maybe his production fell off because of injury, but Ziggy gave me the impression that he was something of a one year wonder. It seems every year or two there's an edge rusher who comes I to the league and explodes with double digit sacks, then he fades. Teams figure out how to block him, or they attack weaknesses in his game, and he becomes ordinary. Ziggy gives me that impression, and add to that the injury concern. I have doubts that he is a multi-year solution. So, yeah, I can see why teams don't want to give him a multi-year deal.

Others have said that the free agent s I goings were mostly marginal players, backups, etc. That's generally true. But I saw an interesting thing a month ago from some coach or GM who said that lineman coming out of college are generally unable to play immediately 9in the NFL. There are exceptions, of course, but they generally don't come with the skills they need, and the only way to get the skills is to play. He said there's so little contact now in training camp and practice that linemen kneed a lot of time on the field in games to learn. Like a few years. So that's something that is promising about the Bills' free agent linrmen. They've been in the league a few years and they've gotten a reasonable amount of playing time. So the chances are that some of them are ready to blossom. For example, just as one scenario Dawson takes a step forward at LT, Morse is what we expect in the center, two free agents with experience take guard spots. That just leaves one youngster, and he will get the benefit of veterans all around him. That collected experience should contribute to the improvement this year.

Very difficult to build a top 5 line from scratch in one year. I think your expectations are a bit high. Is it possible? Yes. There's leadership with Morse. There's good experience with all the free agents. So the ingredients are there. But it's a new line coach. And the linemen have no experience together. It may take more than a year to blend into a god unit. More likely scenario is that the 2020 line 8s good, with 3 or 4 ca%yours from 2019 and 1 or 2 upgrades. Thats when you'll have a combination of talent and experience together. I'm expecting a better line in 2019 but not top 5.

You may be right. I get why you think so. And I agree; I can see how he might succeed. However, 32 teams didn't draft him. That means something. It means he is low probability. Some part of his physical package is just too limited to make him likely to succeed. If he makes it, and I really hope he does, it will be because he has great hands and is so smart that he makes plays just by mastering details. Not saying he is Steve Largent, but Largent succeeded in that way. He just did everything exactly the way he was supposed to. He is in some ways the perfect McDermott player. A guy who desperately wants to succeed, a smart guy, a guy with something to prove. He said in his call with the Bills when they signed him that he wouldn't let the Bills down. McD loves that attitude. He is the kind of a guy who if he simply isnt good enough to make it, he reinvents himself as the best long snapper in the history of the game. Great story.

Thanks. Thanks. Thanks for posting this. Watch it if you get a chance. Several reactions. I remember when he got the scholarship offer. Didn't know he was the guy. Kiffen's done a lot of stupid stiff in his career. Beane and McDermott live smart, and Stills is smart. They love determination and this guy has it, He's a good bet to take Zay's roster spot this year or Beasley's in three. Allen is going to love him, because he is a route runner. He will always be where he is supposed to be. And he has quarterback hands. McBeane live these guys. Smart, determined. Doesn't quit. If you haven't seen the ESPN piece, look for it. It's worth it Thanks to everyone who posted about where we could find it.

That's a really insightful commentary. I hadn't thought about the Allen angle - acquire a legitimate franchise qb prospect without mortgaging the future. I think Beane is one talented dude.

Look, I don't know Singletary, but I think concluding he doesn't have it based on the Oklahoma game is off base. First, Oklahoma had a lot of trouble tackling him. His shifting as beat several OU defenderz, and he was breaking tackles. Second, his TEAMMATES are the guys who play at the Bethune Cook man level, and THEY are the ones who were over matched against OU. THEY were the ones who couldn't make the blocks against NFL caliber defenders. I wonder whether Singletary can take the pounding he will get in the NFL. I'm not worried about 63 yards against Oklahoma.

Hits the hole, makes the cut and takes off. Interesting prospect.

Right. A 3-4 DE isn't an edge rusher; the guy who lines up outside him is. Mario Williams was an edge rusher in the 4-3, and Kyle William's was a 3 tech tackle, the natural positions for both. When they switched to the 3-4, Mario was wasted as a DE and couldn't play OLB. Kyle was out of position as a nose tackle. Edge rusher now means a guy who will play DE in 4-3 or OLB in the 3-4. Some guys fit either scheme, some fit only one.

Yes! And pink in October!!!

I've mentioned this before, and we saw it again last night. McD was asked about it agreed - he wants to be strong up the middle. That's at the core of what he wants to do, and Beane is on the same page. Since McD has arrived: Hyde, Poyer, Edmunds, Lotulelei, Oliver, Morse, Allen. McBeane's highest draft picks and biggest contracts have gone right up the middle.

Yeah. I knew next to nothing about the top rated guys. I'd see Oliver's name mentioned, with people saying no way he'd last to 9, and maybe Beane would trade up for him. So some Metcalf talk, and all the Hock talk. So when the pick came and they took Oliver, at least I knew his name. A half hour later I came here to see what people were saying, scrolled through the thread about the first pick, and I was amazed at the consistent, almost unanimous enthusiasm for the pick. There's an interesting mathematical rule that says if you take a lot of people, none of whom have any special information or knowledge, and ask them to estimate the number of gumballs in a large jar, they're individual guess are all over the place. Some way too high, some way to low. But apparently if you average all the guesses, the average comes out really close to the actual number. That is, the collected wisdom of a lot of people usually is pretty much on the money. If that rule applies here, it seems like the Bills got a good one. I, for one, think it's really cool to have gotten a guy who could be as important to the long-term history of the franchise as the guy who's shoes he's been drafted to fill. I'd like to have back-to-back all-star QBs, like the Colts did, but if I can't get QBs, back-to-back all-star D tackles is pretty nice.

That would be quite cool. But those are BIG animals, and I wonder how they'll handle them. Another angle - the bisons replace the Jills?

Gotta love the Pegulas, Beane and McDermott. What a nice thing to do. And gotta love Pancho. Dressed for the draft.

I gotta say that in a world where people seem desperate to be the first with any story, this is a refreshingly old-fashioned approach. Thanks. Okay, so what's REALLY going on?

Mr. Castro - Bills fans everywhere are with you and your family. Your legend will live forever.

Here! Here! Beane might not pick your guy, but he's very unlikely to make any four base errors, either. No Aaron Maybins or Walt Patulskis on his board. The Bills are going to be a better football team tomorrow morning. And they'll be even better Saturday morning.

I'm sold on Beane, until he misses badly on picks in the first two rounds, and it will take at least the rookie season to know if he missed. So I have no nightmare scenarios. My reaction tonight will be that whomever he takes will make the team better, and that's good enough for me. Everything is different once you have your QB.

Right, but the Hock supporters say (I don't know this myself, but they say it) that the reason Hock is unusual and worth the pick is that he's all three rolled into one, which is what Gronk was. Your offense has great options if the tight end you put on the field does all three. It allows for your QB to check from a power running play to a pass play and vice versa, and have a right personnel on the field at tight end either way. In fact, that's one of the things that made the Patriots offense so devastating. When the offense had a good mismatch against a small D, they'd go hurry up and run the ball, not allowing the D to substitute. When they caught the D in a big, slower run-stopping defense, they'd go hurry up and pass multiple plays in a row. They could do both equally well with Gronk on the field. You're right, the roster IS set up to do TE by committee, and that's not bad. But instead of Croom, it's better if your pass catching tight end is more like Witten or any of the lesser but solid tight ends, who are excellent route runners and at least decent blockers. And those guys are also better than a Fisher, who (at least so far as we know, is likely to be more of a third offensive tackle. It will be great if he's a real route running threat, but I'm not holding my breath.

This an exceptionally interesting point. It may be correct, which means my view of the value of TEs is simply out of date. Put another way, the TE is now a more integral part of the passing game, so the TE can have value more like a wideout's impact. I'm still not sure that's correct, but that's just me being my stubborn self.

Edelman has nice punt-return man quickness and change of direction. That's a real skill. But all you see from Edelman are the plays where the scheme gives him a favorable one on one matchup, especially against linebackers, but not necessarily. That favorable matchup might just be what part of the field the defense is giving him. And it's almost always on very short routes. Longer routes, he doesn't have the speed to beat DBs, so he isn't much of a threat there. You don't see him creating space 15 yard sideline patterns. He's a talented guy, works his tail off, but he is a product of their scheme, just like Welker before him. Good punt return man who's in a scheme that suits his particular skills.