Shaw66

Login=c Thanks. Another greater poster heard from. I actually just said the fill-in-the-blanks thing in my response to Buddo. That doesn't mean just any guy off the street; it means the best you can get at every position. But the best isn't necessarily the best athlete; he's the best role player for the position. Finding, drafting and keeping the studs is the hardest part; the role players should be easier. That's why I said the pressure is on McBeane. They don't have to find a GREAT tight end; they just need one who can catch the throw Allen made at the end of the first Dolphins game. If you're like me, it was hard for you to write "the best player on the field" and "transcendent." I haven't said that, because I'm afraid I'm going to jinx him. But it's true. That's why I got on the band wagon so early. When he made that touchdown throw in his first preseason game, a back shoulder dart to the goal line between two defenders, it SHOCKED me. The next preseason game he made another, then another. By the time he took over from Peterman and I saw a game or two more, I was sold. The guy doesn't have great talent; he has exceptional talent. And, as I've been saying, he has intense desire to drive himself and be driven by others to be the very best possible. It's really exciting. Maybe with a couple seasons under his belt, the move to RT won't be so hard now. Or the move to LG. In the grand scheme, it doesn't matter. He's a reasonably talented offensive lineman who still will get better. Put him where he fits best and then deal with what's left. Also, I don't think they need three new pieces. I think they need two. The good players on the line make the mediocre players play better, because they operate as a team. That's why losing Richie and Eric was such a blow. You lose your two best, and your two worst are floundering. So I think all they need is two. I won't complain about three, but I don't like big overhauls. There should be three guys from 2018 who are good enough and will bring continuity to the 2019 line. But that's just me ruminating - I don't really know.

Thanks. This is a nice analysis of how I think the will handle the off-season. They want to grow young players, so they're going to be careful signing older free agents. The kind of guy I'd expect to see them spend on is a guy drafted in the first or second round coming off his rookie deal, a guy who underperformed his draft position. A guy McBeane scouted and wanted in Carolina, a guy they know is an athlete and who buys into the process. People here will complain that they're signing busts, but that's not what they'll think they're doing. They're looking for guys whose pro coaches didn't challenge them the right way to get them to perform.

Buddo - I always look forward to your comments. Thanks. A couple of things in response to what you said. First, Edmunds. You really got me to focus on how young he is with the comment that next season he STILL may be the youngest guy on the team. And his body certainly isn't done filling it. Two years from now he easily could have added 15 pounds of muscle AND two years' playing experience. He could be a beast. The end-of-season press conferences impressed on me again how much McDermott is about a system. This is a highly structured organization designed to continue to develop players so that they and the team get better and better. McDermott sells these guys a process that has one objective - continuous winning, including winning championships. He sells players on the notion that if they work and study and continuously improve, the TEAM someday will win. It's interesting to me because implicit in what they do is that some of the players he's getting to buy into that process won't be with the team when the championships are won, but McDermott still sells those guys on the notion that they're continuing improvement builds the platform from which some other players will in turn improve. He's telling them that the ultimate success of the team depends on what these guys do, even if they aren't the ones who will win the championships. For example, if the Bills win a Super Bowl with McDermott in three years, Kyle will know he was part of it. So will McKenzie, whether he's with the team or not. So will Dawkins. It's fascinating to watch. McBeane choose players who are willing to commit to that process and the intense environment that goes with it. They chose Allen and Edmunds because they are smart, hungry competitors willing to commit. Desperately willing to commit. McBeane wouldn't have drafted them if they didn't have that willingness. After the draft, they said Allen was an intense competitor. You heard it from Allen yesterday - he HATES to lose. During the draft process, you could see signs that Rosen may not be committed to the same extent, and that's why Allen was the pick. Edmunds apparently is the same way. You said there will always be some "hero ball" from Allen. You may be right, but I think you aren't. I think the process is designed to have the QB do the right thing on every play, and I think that we've already heard from Allen that that's what he's trying to learn. They chose him because he's committed to doing everything the right way. I hate to say it, but Brady is the model. There's no hero ball in him because he doesn't have the raw talent to be the hero, but that's not the point. The point is that Brady seems to do the right thing on every play, finding the right receiver, beating the blitz, throwing the ball away, even taking the sack, almost always while protecting himself from injury. That's the model, I think, that McDermott has Allen pursuing. I think the vision for him is a guy with the physical abilities of a Rodgers (probably better) and the mental discipline of a Brady. That's what they're after. And Allen is buying it and working to be that guy. When he talked about his long touchdown run against the Dolphins, he was asked what he saw. He sort of said he didn't see anything; he just started running, guys made some blocks and he got to the end zone. What I found interesting about it was that all Allen did was make a series of good decisions: he looked downfield, didn't like what he saw, got on the move to avoid the rush, kept looking downfield, saw that running was the best opportunity, kept going so long as he had open field and no big hits coming. It was all good decision making by a superior athlete, and we could see the beauty of the combination of those two things. I think his interception on Sunday was less hero ball than it was a misjudgment by him about whether he could get the ball in there. He knows he's not supposed to take risks with the ball, he just misjudged the risk. That is, he didn't think he was going to show everyone he's Superman - he thought it was a play he could make, and he learned that it's one he can't make. As I said in the OP, he has to make some of those mistakes to refine his judgment. I think there's a LOT of pressure on McBeane now. If you have a young stud QB and a young stud MLB, and it looks like that could be what's happened, you probably have 50% or more of the talent you need to be good. You can get by with a lot of role players at the other positions if you have top ten talent at those two positions. (Obviously, it's too early to say these guys are top 10, but they certainly could be on that trajectory. People laughed at me in the summer when I said the Bills could have the offensive rookie of the year and the defensive rookie of the year. They didn't, of course, but it's not so far-fetched to think that someday those two will be the offensive and defensive players of the year. I think if you could get Belichick and others around the league to talk frankly about it, they'd tell those are two studs.) So McBeane have to go get the role players. From my perspective, I'd love to see them get a really good left tackle and move Dawkins to the right. Get at least one good free agent interior lineman. Then go to work. Thanks again for posting.

Really well said, Stu.

McD said in his presser that for the last game Edminds finally let go, stopped thinking so much and just played. He said it was pretty impressive.

That's what your think. I get it. I just don't think that's what McDermott thinks. Listen to the press conferences today. They're about good athletes learning to pursue perfection. They are studying. learning, teaching each other. Part of the process will be repeatedly bringing in new players to find better talent to learn the same things. So, yes, ultimately McD is looking for Bruce, not Kyle, but only a Bruce who wil lwith the discipliine of a Kyle. McDermott sounded pretty excited today when the conversation turned to Allen and Edmunds. He doesn't want to say it, but it seemed like what he was thinking was he has his Bruce at QB and he has his Bruce at MLB. Yeah, I wrote that before I saw the video of his speech to the team. He had first hand experience of Kyle. It sounds like Kyle was the epitome of what McD wants in a football player.

I congratulate Burleson. He states his point of view nicely, and he's entitled to his view of the situation. I don't know any of these situations nearly well enough, but people have to at least ask questions when black coaches are hired and fired in a year. There's no way it's fair to expect a guy to turn things around in one year. On the other hand, it may have been completely clear inside the clubhouse that he was in over his head. It happens. If he's over his head, there's a good chance he's drowning. Under those circumstances sometimes you just have cut him loose and try to save the ship.

I don't have great recollections of Freddy. I had little kids and wasn't watching the Bills as much as I do now. Still, I'd guess you're right. Kyle wasn't the best tackle in the sense that he could dominate other teams. But he did EVERYTHING at a really high level. He played, without the same size and length, like JJ Watt plays, all out determination mixed with great athletic ability, every play. Kyle couldn't dominate like Watt, but that was his style. Smerlas could dominate.

Nicely done. Very nice.

Why do we love Kyle Williams? · We loved that backflip in college · We loved when this LSU Tiger, looking more like a Teddy Bear, came to Buffalo · We loved how the news from training camp day after day was Williams made another play · We loved that he started as a rookie · We loved that he was a fifth round pick · We loved that he was tough and still a sportsman · We loved how after a couple of years he knew he was supposed to be a leader, but he didn’t know how · We loved how he started speaking up and doing more, sort of awkwardly at first, doing it because he knew HE had to do it · We loved how he embraced our new owners and our new GM and our new coach · We loved how eventually it was all there, the play, the leadership, the stability in tough times, the self-assured modesty, the graciousness · We loved the leadership · We loved watching him get to the playoffs · We loved the message – that this is what can happen if you commit completely to becoming everything you can be · We loved how, through all of that, he was still a kid playing a game · We love him like family.

I tend to agree with you, but that's not McD's process. If you heard his speech to the team before he introduced Kyle who was announcing his retirement? McDermott is selling commitment to self, team, family and community. The way to succeed, in his model, is to prove yourself in all four categories, all the time. Listen to Allen's press conference today. He's talking about Kyle, about Buffalo, about what this city stands for, all of it. That's the package that McD wants every player to embrace.

Yes, you're correct. I was just picking up on the idea of passing the torch. It was BOTH a passing of the torch from the ultimate in work ethic to the younger generation who must pick it up AND a passing of the torch from the Wilsons to the Pegulas. McDermott wants pride in the community, the history of the organization, the colors. He's selling all of that to his players. I'm sure he wants his players to know about the Wilsons and AFL and all of that. So the last guy from that entire era, the last guy connected in some way to the beginning of the franchise, is now retiring.

I agree, sort of. I just watched some of the press conferences about Kyle. It's pretty emotional. Kyle said he is the last person left in the organization who had a direct relationship with Marv Levy and with the Wilson family. So he signifies the total transition to new ownership, GM and coach. McDermott is telling his players that they got to watch a guy do it exactly as it needs to be done to succeed. And he's telling them that now they must do it. It doesn't mean the other vets will go, but it means that the young guys now must be the guys who carry the team.

I'd guess Clay will go, but I would not be surprised to see all of Alexander, Murphy and McCoy stay, just like the Bills kept Kyle. I say that not so much because I think they ought to stay but because of how I perceive how McDermott operates. McDermott's been clear that he wants leaders in the locker room. He got Murphy because he has the heart and commitment that McDermott wants in all his players. I think that's why he kept Williams and Alexander, and I think that's why he likes McCoy. Ultimately, McDermott wants homegrown leaders, but it's going to take him a few years to grow them. In the meantime, he needs the next best thing, which is guys who started elsewhere, who have adversity in their careers and who have fought through it to be the best players they can be. I think, for example, that McDermott wants McCoy because McCoy will play his heart out next season because, well, that's what McCoy does. McDermott wants his youngsters to see, up close and personal, a star at the end of his career, a guy who's already made his money, a guy who could coast through 2019 just to collect one more big check, but who nevertheless is a guy who is doing everything possible to win. McDermott wants that in his locker room. McDermott built a special relationship with Kyle shortly after McDermott arrived in Buffalo. He knew, from reputation and from he saw in his first days in Buffalo, that Kyle was one of those guys. Now he's losing Kyle and he has three left. Their value to the team, in McDermott's view, goes far beyond what they do on the field.

See, I think McDermott and Beane see it differently. I think, but I don't know, that McBeane are all about young players who fit what they want to do. I don't think they have any interest in talented old vets like Green. They kept Alexander and Williams (and McCoy) because they are EXACTLY the kind of team players they want as leaders. They don't want to take a chance on some vet in the hope that he'll become such a leader. They want to grow their own leaders. In the environment that they're creating, they MIGHT spend big dollars on a guy who's coming off his first contract, but they'll be cautious about such guys. If the guy isn't re-signing with his original team, it means he hasn't emerged as a leader on the team. McBeane don't want good players who aren't leaders. So that leads me to believe that the Bills have literally more cap room than they know what to do with. They don't need an extra $6 million in cap room, because they aren't going to be signing a lot of guys for more than $5 million a year. And that, in turn, leads me to believe that if they think McCoy has gas in the tank, and if they think he's a leader (I think he is), they'll keep him.

McDermott doesn't want his team losing discipline, but you know he liked that moment, too. I'm sure Mills was as much a part of the post-game locker room celebration as any other Bill, maybe more so, and McDermott desperately wants that togetherness. It was a memorable game for many reasons, with a lot of important stuff happening even though the game was meaningless in the standings.

That's great!!! Thanks, I'll fix it. I don't worry too much about the cap space. I worry about the players I want on the team. Especially in 2019, when the Bills have a lot of cap room, whether they save some cap space by dumping McCoy seems less important to me than whether he's a guy who fits what they're trying to do. If I understand the cap situation, if the Bills keep him, it will cost about $6.5 million in cash and $9 million against the cap. Both of those numbers are manageable in the current situation. If they cut him, they'll save all the cash and will take a $2.6 million hit to the cap. That means cutting him would give the Bills an extra $6 million in cash and cap to spend on players. Obviously, $6 million is enough to buy a couple of good players, maybe three. But there already is a lot of cash and cap for signing a lot of players, so I'm not sure exactly how much difference it would make to the team. I think it all depends on what the Bills - McBeane - want on the field in 2019.

Fair enough - I'll agree that this season his productivity did look very much like Spiller's. I think the more important point is the one I mentioned in the OP. I think McCoy still has everything he needs for a 1000 yard season, but he has to play in an offense designed to create the kind of opportunities that McCoy needs. Again, not saying Ivory is the future, but it's pretty easy to see that Ivory is not going to star in an offense that's just right for McCoy and McCoy will have trouble starring in an offense that's just right for Ivory. Ivory is a tough, inside runner who gets yards between the tackles with quickness and decent power. A lot like Fred Jackson, actually. He's not a guy you're looking to get one-on-one in space. He does okay in that part of the game, but he doesn't scare people. McCoy is the opposite. He DOES scare people out there. He's tough and will run inside, but that isn't what makes him special. So I think the important question, which I don't know the answer to, is what kind of running game are the Bills trying to build? If they think they can have a run-pass complementary offense that can use a guy who's going inside, outside and catching passes, I think you'll see at least one more excellent season from McCoy. But if the game they want to feature is pounding the ball inside with play action to set up the passing, McCoy may be history.

Yes, yes, yes. The Gabbert stat was mind-blowing. The single most important thing for the Bills over the next 8 months is to retain Daboll. Allen and the rest of the offense needs continuity more than anything else at this time. There is no single player in the draft or free agency that means more to the Bills' 2019 offense than Brian Daboll. And I'm not saying Daboll is a star. I'm just saying the Bills' offense desperately needs stability. Let's see them build on Allen, Jones, Foster, Dawkins, Teller and a couple of other returnees.

I'll readily admit, I may be wrong about McCoy, but I would NEVER compare McCoy to Spiller. Spiller knew NOTHING about changing direction, and McCoy has built what is probably a Hall of Fame career on changing direction. If McCoy has one more 1000-yard season, he's in the Hall of Fame. His last 1000-yard season was, uh, last season. I'm not ready to retire the guy.

We've seen Allen throw all season, and we haven't seen him miss that consistently, ever. Which makes me think those weren't misses. They were looking for the back shoulder throw.

By the end of the game it seemed clear to me that those back shoulder slants were intentional. If I recall correctly, the first one was really ugly behind Zay. Then there was the touchdown throw that Zay made what seemed like a miraculous spin and catch before he sprinted to the pylon. Then there was another one. Along the way, there was one where Zay began his turn before the ball was delivered, at which point I was sure the Bills had come into the game looking for that play. Watching the replay of the TD, it looks to me like Zay may have been surprised the ball got there that quickly but not surprised that it was thrown behind him. He made a really nice play on the ball, but I think he was able to do it because he was expecting the ball to be there.

A memorable season? For me it was memorable primarily for Allen and Edmunds and not much else. I mean, there are some interesting stories about players (Kyle, Lorenzo, Foster and a few others), but when I look back five years from now, what I'll remember will be Allen and Edmunds and how their rookie seasons were the beginning of whatever it is they do over the next four seasons. Busts or stars or something between.

“What a Meal” I’d love a better draft pick, but I like wins more, especially wins over division rivals. The Bills’ 42-17 walk over the Dolphins was well worth the pick. There was a lot to like in this game. Of course, it was a meaningless game. The Dolphins may have mailed it in, in which case we saw nothing much more than a pre-season game. Whether it previewed the 2019 Bills is a question that won’t be answered for nine months. Still, it’s a win over the Dolphins, and that’s enough for me. Easily as satisfying as a great meal. This was the kind of game that fans want out of their team every week. It wasn’t flawless; it’s hard to play 60 dominant minutes in the NFL, and the Bills sure weren’t dominant for stretches of the game. But it was a kneel-down win, with a lot of big plays, takeaways rather than giveaways, effective (although still imbalanced) running, efficient passing. Few penalties. Great win. And, to make it sweeter, or maybe bitter sweet, it was Kyle Williams day. With the Bills out of the playoffs, McDermott was free to script the show to highlight his retiring leader. Kyle in the backfield at the goal line – a shot at a TD in his last game? No, just Kyle being a good football player, getting the assist on Josh Allen’s quarterback sneak. Kyle in the slot, shedding a defender making a solid catch and run in the right flat, his exceptional athleticism on display. Kyle sent onto the field for the final time late in the game. The Bills immediately call time out and summon him to the sideline for the fans’ final ovation. It was great stuff. Maybe I’ll write something about Kyle during the off-season. For now I’ll say just this: we saw what makes Kyle special when Kyle realized that McDermott was taking him out of the game and that this was the end. He wanted one more play or maybe one more series. He wanted his career to end the way he always played: playing every down he could, making every play he could. He’s a football player, and football players don’t come out early. At that moment, we saw what’s special about Kyle. Kyle said no and tried to wave off the substitute. He could have insisted; he could have just stayed there and forced McDermott to let him stay. Few players could get away with that; Kyle could have because the crowd would have been with him, and he knew it. But that isn’t Kyle. Kyle isn’t about individual power; he is the ultimate team player. He understands better than anyone that each player and each coach has a role, and he understood in that moment, just as he had in every other moment since he first put on a Bills’ helmet, that he had to do his job. He wasn’t going to challenge his coach publicly on his last football play. Kyle accepted some congratulations and left the field for the final time. I just love the guy. A short request for your help. The Bills Backers in Boston gather every Sunday at the Harp. A long-time Harp employee, big Charles, died unexpectedly last week. Apparently, over the years Charles became a Bills fan himself. My wife and I met him when we went to the Harp for the first time just this year, and he couldn’t have been friendlier. There’s a GoFundMe page with more about Charles and to help support Charles’s family. The wait staff at the Harp today donated all of their tips, over $1000. If you’d like to help, the link is https://www.gofundme.com/honoringbigcharles. Thanks. Kyle wasn’t the whole show, not at all. He was the dessert after a great meal. Also on the menu were: LeSean McCoy. He still has it. It was there again on Sunday. Give him the ball in space, and he’s going to get you everything that’s there, and usually more. The Bills were horrible at getting him the ball in space this season, for a lot of reasons, and he didn’t get a lot of those chances against the Dolphins. When he did, he was outstanding. The question for 2019 is why didn’t McCoy get the ball in space more in 2018? If the answer is the offensive line, then if the Bills can fix the line, McCoy should be back. But if the answer is the Bills’ offense doesn’t and isn’t going to feature a running game designed to get guys in space, then why would they need Shady? Maybe the Bills would rather have a running game that is more suited to Ivory’s style (whether or not Ivory is the guy), a running game that features straight ahead power and shiftiness in tight spaces. McDermott sort of signaled last week that McCoy will be back, and I hope so. In the right offense he is explosive. He’s fun to watch, and he’s a great teammate. Tremaine Edmunds. I’ve beaten up Edmunds often this season, and I still saw some of the things that must be better if he’s going to be a dominant middle linebacker, but against the Dolphins some of his special skills were on display. His interception was exceptional, and not just because he made a pretty spectacular one-handed play. What made the play was his speed – if Tannehill saw Edmunds, he decided Edmunds couldn’t get there to make a play. If he didn’t see Edmunds, it was because he was too far out of Tannehill’s field of vision. Either way, a guy who essentially wasn’t in the play reacted and took the ball. His sack also was exceptional. He took on the block (something he must improve) and essentially jumped over the blocker and grabbed Tannehill. It wasn’t a power move, but it was an amazing athletic move. Not many guys make that tackle, at least not that way. My favorite Edmunds play was his one-on one tackle in the hole in the first half. He read run and reacted to fill the hole, planted his shoulder, wrapped up and took the guy down. Those run stops are what’s been missing from his game, and if he’s learning that, he can be the star that Sean McDermott wants in the middle. Zay Jones. Nice patterns, nice catches. He’s good evidence of the size of the jump from college to the pros. It took more than a full season for Jones to raise his game to the level of an effective NFL receiver. McDermott’s patience with him seems to be paying off. He needs some help next season. Levi Wallace. I’ve been sleeping on Wallace. Last week I saw someone touting the quality of his play, and Sunday I saw it. Really nice deep coverage on that throw to the goal line up the left sideline. A couple of excellent open-field tackles. Teams need a lot of corners, and Wallace is a nice addition. Josh Allen. There it was; the win over the Dolphins showed what Josh Allen can look like when he puts it all together. He HASN’T put it all together yet, and we saw some of that on Sunday, too. The runs, of course, were spectacular once again – the Dolphins clearly misjudged his speed. It was Allen’s play in the passing game against the Dolphins that we’ve been looking for. He took more checkdowns, which increased his completion percentage and helped sustain long drives. He hit his receivers regularly, and they made the catches. He avoided sacks. In other words, he did the things winning QBs do, and he didn’t do the things losing QBs do. He also continued his education. He threw more inaccurate passes than usual, and I’d guess that was the evidence of his introduction to the cold and wind at New Era in December. He threw a rookie interception, but he can learn when to make that throw and when not only if he makes some of those mistakes. He recovered nicely from the INT. He still has a lot to learn. How good was Allen on Sunday? Well, his passer rating for the game was 115. Brees and Mahomes, probably the best this season, are in that range for the entire season and have a lot of games in the 120s and 130s. But when you roll in the running and other factors, as the QBR does, Allen’s game was essentially as big as the best the other two have played this season. Brees had a higher QBR in only three games this season, Mahomes only twice. That’s a good game. It’s one game, and a meaningless game at that, but it’s what we’ve been looking for. See you next year. GO BILLS!!! The Rockpile Review is written to share the passion we have for the Buffalo Bills. That passion was born in the Rockpile; its parents were everyday people of western New York who translated their dedication to a full day’s hard work and simple pleasures into love for a pro football team.

Really sorry to hear this. My wifee befriended Charles on our first visit to the Harp, and he was a genuinely fine man. It so happens we're in Boston this weekend and will be at the Harp for the game. It will be a sad day.