Shaw66

The Rockpile Review by Shaw66 The Brandon Beane Era Begins Brandon Beane arrived in Buffalo three months ago. He was the new guy in town, replacing the last new guy, who replaced the new guy before him. Over time, each new guy made his mark on the team, and then he left. He made a mark, but he didnt win. So Beane took over in May, and now its his turn to make his mark. He did a few deals, nothing very remarkable. It seemed as though wed have to wait until free agency and the draft in 2018 to get a sense of who this man is and what his team-building strategy looks like. Or so it seemed. Less than a day after an ordinary and uneventful preseason opener, Beane reshaped the 2017 starting lineup and set himself up to build the team that he and Sean McDermott envision. In separate deals, Beane traded Sammy Watkins and Ronald Darby and filled their spots in the lineup with quality starters. He also banked second- and third-round picks in the 2018 draft. Yesterday, we could only speculate about how and what Beane and McDermott want to build. Today, its pretty clear. 1. They want to build through the draft. Beane confirmed it in his press conference. Why through the draft? Because drafted players cost less than free agents; acquiring less expensive players means more players under the cap with the talent and skills McDermott wants. 2. McDermott is confident that system trumps talent, that a lot of good players playing in the right system will beat great players whose talents force the team to adjust to them. He knows Watkins is better than Matthews and Darby is probably better than Gaines, but he also knows that Matthews and Gaines plus the two guys the Bills can draft next year are probably better, collectively, than Watkins and Darby. 3. They think they need a true franchise quarterback, not just a good quarterback. Taylor may be a good a quarterback, but he almost certainly isnt a franchise quarterback. Are they done with Taylor? Not necessarily. But the deals put the Bills in position to go after the QB they want if Taylor doesnt make major strides this season. And if Taylor has a good but not great season, dont be surprised if the Bills trade down again in 2018, stockpiling 2019 picks so that they can have one more year to look at Taylor. 4. Theyre students of the Belichick way. Belichick trades his top talent rather than pay it. He can afford to pay a GIllislee $4 million because he isnt paying anyone other than a QB $14 million. Beane and McDermott will take a good role player (Matthews) over a better, but costlier star (Watkins). Belichick stockpiles draft picks, often trading down. McDermott traded down in the 2017 draft, instead of trading up for a Watkins. In every practice McDermott puts his players into a particular game situation tells them the situation, tells them how to respond, puts them on the field to practice it. It was reported as innovative, but Belichick has been doing that for years. 5. The Pegulas have turned this team over to Beane and McDermott. The deals were bold moves, and Beane must have gone to the Pegulas, if not for their prior approval, at least as a courtesy. A GM that didnt have his owners confidence might have been told to cool it, to hold on to the guy who, at least on paper, was your biggest star. It seems the Pegulas response was its your decision. 6. Doug Whaleys approach to his job was to acquire and keep talent. He proudly announced that he had his top six, the highly paid guys who will lead the team: Taylor, Glenn, Watkins, McCoy, Dareus, Gilmore and Hughes). And in truth it wasnt a bad collection of players. But Whaley never articulated, and his acquisitions never revealed, a greater plan about how to build a team. He was hampered by having had a coach (Rex) and maybe another (Marrone), who also didnt have a well-defined strategy. The GMs and coaches, to one extent or another, seemed to think it was enough to get good players and coach em up. McDermott and Beane have a plan; they have an idea of who players fit the plan. (Sounds a bit like Belichick, doesnt it?) Gilmore didnt fit, not at that price (he may be a fit in Belichicks, but not McDermotts). Watkins didnt fit, not at that price. Hughes, Dareus, Glenn, Taylor, McCoy all have gotten the message. 7. Beane may be young, but hes in charge. He handled the press conference like a real pro. Straight, on-point answers to some questions, always positive about the players he decided to trade while emphasizing that in return he got players who can play, and flatly and directly declining to answer questions that reveal his future plans. 8. Beane may be young, but like Whaley, he isnt afraid. First time GM, one of the youngest in the league; a lot of guys in that position would have backed away from the table and just let 2017 play out with the hand he was dealt. Not Beane. 9. Weve heard a lot about how the Bills will be running a variant of the west coast offense, with an emphasis on possession passing and strong running. We saw a lot of short passes in the preseason opener. The acquisitions of Boldin and Matthews reinforce that view. Big targets, possession receivers. The trades scream that the Bills want to be effective, not flashy. I hated to see Sammy go. Hes a special talent, and its so much fun to watch special talent perform for the team I root for. Itll be brutal to watch if he puts up a monster season this year, and he could. But I like the moves. I like them because the team may be better this season (and in any case not terribly worse) than 2016, and I like them because the moves should make the team stronger going forward. Most of all I like them because they say that the Bills, for the first time in a long time, have men in charge who have a plan, who are pursuing that plan every day, and who wont be distracted froam the goal. They have men in charge who have the full support, emotional and financial, of the owners. I like that. 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 days hard work and simple pleasures into love for a pro football team.

Tolbert is a real running back. Just wait.

Young and naive and, well, you know. That's what I'd like to think. I think one of the smartest things I ever saw Rex say was a few weeks, responding to someone's prediction that the Bills would go 4-12. He said if the Bills have 4-12 talent, then he must have been one of the best coaches of all time. I think Rex coached like his father, and coaching's gotten a lot more sophisticated since then. So I'd like to think that McD is one of the new breed, but we won't know for a few hours, a few weeks and a few months.

no. I'll be out. Can't watch the game on my phone sitting in a restaurant.

To be fair, a new HC tends to make some mistakes in his first season, and it's his second season when he really has his feet on the ground. But I think coaches either get it or don't get it, and even with the mistakes, a rookie head coach who gets it shows it from day one. So he can say what he wants, but efficiency and fundamentals without production isn't enough. When they hired Rex I hoped he knew what he was doing (despite my fears). From day one the Bills were flat and inconsistent, and I knew we were in trouble.

The Rockpile Review by Shaw66 Here We Go! 2017 Preseason Opener Every few years the Bills first game in preseason falls on the evening of my wedding anniversary. Some readers will remember that a few years ago, when CJ Spiller was a rookie, it was one of those years. I ran a little contest, asking fans to write a letter to my wife explaining why, although we were on vacation and the game was the night of our anniversary, she ought to agree to watching the game in a sports bar. We had a lot of fun with it. And I saw the game! This year is one of those years. But for my anniversary, Id be sitting beside my computer listening to the radio broadcast of the game (no TV coverage here or on anyplace around here, so far as I know). So I wont see the game. I might catch some of the fourth quarter, but even that is unlikely. So Ill be limited in my knowledge of what happened in the game to what I can read on line, from people paid to write about the Bills and from fans who actually know what theyre talking about. I began to wonder what it is that I want those reports to say to make me satisfied. There are some news reports of what McDermott and Dennison have said. They said they want to see execution, efficiency in calling plays and getting to the line, stuff like that. That stuff is what coaches think about, because theyre into the details. Their job is to build a team, and its built one step at a time. Theyre building foundation first and going on from there. So they want to see the basics. I realized thats not what Im looking for, and thats not what the fans are looking for. Weve been waiting a long time, and we want out team to be good, NOW. We have the luxury of not worrying about the basics. Our job is to make noise, and its only fun to make noise when the team is good. So what do I want to see when I start reading about the game ? Simple. I want to see that on one or both of the possessions that the first-team offense has, the Bills ran a seven or eight play drive for a touchdown. I want to see 10 points, minimum, on those possessions. And I want to see a punt or a takeaway on the defenses first possession. I know, those are high expectations, but thats what fans of good teams see, and I want the Bills to be good. I want more than a good foundation; I want to see that the whole damn building is good. When you read this time of year about the Patriots or the Steelers or the Packers or the Seahawks, you see thats what those teams do. Brady ran two series, was 6 for 9 for 107 yards and a TD, then he sat down. Ben, Aaron and Russell, same thing. I want some of that. And I especially I want some of that from Taylor. Im sick of this bridge qb stuff. I dont want to hear about using two firsts and more next year to draft the next guy to pin our hopes to. I want Taylor to take his team up the field for a touchdown of 7 or 8 plays, with some well-executed pass plays thrown in there. A 45-yard TD run by McCoy wont do it for me, not in this game. I want Taylor to be good, and I want to see it now. Too much to ask? I dont think so. If McDermott is going to be the answer, well see some magic on day one. Not perfection, but some magic. Lets play some football! And for my sake, lets hope I get lucky tonight. After all, its my anniversary. 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 days hard work and simple pleasures into love for a pro football team.

Bills should make Vince Wilfork and assistant Dline coach.

I hate his questions, too. It's as though he wants to show off what an insider he is. They're stupid. It IS the norm - the writers don't know football. For that matter, the great majority of fans don't, either. With a very few exceptions, we don't understand the details of what the players are taught to do. The details are boring to most people, and writers and announcers that dig into the details don't last long, because the fans don't read or listen to that stuff for very long.

That's not the anticipation problem. On medium to deep balls he can lead receivers very well. The problem is being willing to throw before the receiver is open, knowing that by the time the ball arrives the receiver will be open. The complaint that many raise about Taylor (I'm not sure it's true but it's credible enough to assume it's true) is that unless he sees his man open and running in open space, he won't throw.

Well, the argument is that he played in an offense that didn't ask him to pass much. In fact, some people believe the offense was designed to take the ball out of Taylor's hands. I think that's too si mm plastic for several reasons. First, last season he passed well in games over 30 attempts, so it isn't clear that Taylor struggles if he has to pass more. Second, different offenses require different combinations of skills. As I've sai, i thinknthenwest coast offense may be better suited to Taylor's game.

Right. I think people are jumping to conclusion here. I'm not sure he's saying this is a problem. It's the next step after learning the plays - learning when throw it.

I think they're different. I think a lot of the west coast throws are read and react, which any good athlete can learn. The anticipation throws that I think most people talk about are longer routes where the qb has to make a judgment about whether a receiver will get open. That's different. People talk about Brady like he's God. I think a lot of his throws are read and react. He sees the defense, takes the snap, makes one read and throws. The read is something like did the LB drop or not? Is the safety poaching? Depending on what he sees he throws it. He doesn't wait to see if the guy is going to open up because he knows if the LB dropped the guy will be open.

I disagree that this is not an offense suited to Taylor. I think it's likely to be perfect for him. First, this offense requires a simple read and throw. It's decision making that a good athlete like Taylor can learn. Look for a key; if you see it, throw it. It really isn't anticipation. It's recognition and reaction, and those are athletic skills. Second, it's an offense based on stretch runs to the outside, and that's an offense that leads to moving pockets and rollouts. Those are strengths for Taylor. Third, the stretch runs, with zone blocking, also fit his running style. I think people will be surprised at how well Taylor runs the offense.

I never understand why some people put some "words" in quotation marks. "Words" are "words"; there aren't "special" "words" that need quotation marks. If some "words" were more "special" than other "words" we'd need "special" "dictionaries" for "special words." Like Webster's "Special" "Words" "Dictionaries." "Go" "Bills"!!!!

Don't underestimate the leap from college to the pros, especially from the level Jones was playing at. Vets have a huge advantage at this time of year. Same is true for Ragland. IF the Bills were in the same defense, it would bother me that Ragland can't crack the starting lineup. But he's getting a brand new defense thrown at him, and vets like Humber have a built-in advantage. Give it time. If they aren't seeing a lot of playing time by mid-season, then it's on them. But right now, they're just working their way in.

Send them to me for screening.

Dear Mr. Boldin, Welcome to Buffalo and the Buffalo Bills! Bills fans have been waiting and hoping you'd decide to join the Bills, and now you have. You've been widely admired around the National Football League for a lot of years, as much for your professionalism and dedication as for your receiving talents. Bills fans have a special place in their hearts for guys like you, and we're excited you've joined our team. We're sure you and your family will feel welcome in Buffalo, and we looked forward to seeing you on and off the field, and not just in 2017. Welcome! Shaw

I had given up hope on this deal. So glad it happened. Boldin will be Taylor's security blanket. The phrase is overused, but Boldin is open when he isn't open. You can throw to him and expect the catch and know it won't be intercepted. I don't know Holmes but liked what I read about him. And I like what I've been hearing about Jones. Adding Boldin means that the Bills have a really solid receiving corps. Assuming the receivers and McCoy stay healthy, it'a all on Dennison and Taylor. There's no reason this team should not be able to move the ball. Weapons galore!

It's funny how we're all encouraged by dumb little stuff, and we've all been there before. As you say, the proof is in the pudding, and that's a still a month away.

This is illogical. First, you don't know what you have with a rookie head coach after his first season. All the coaches tell us that it takes a year to figure out what they're doing. Second, if you think Rex was a cluster!@#$ with these players and McDermott puts up the same record as Rex, then why doesn't that mean McDermott is a cluster!@#$, too. Or if McD goes 7-9, does that mean you're going to revise your opinion of Rex and say he was a star head coach who had terrible talent to work with? Fact is, if the Bills go 7-9 this season, what that means will depend on a lot of things, like injuries, officiating, strength of schedule, etc. When the season is over, it'll be possible to look back and form some opinions about the quality of the coaching and the quality of the talent. Right now, it's pure guesswork to talk about what 7-9 means. Now, if the Bills go 4-12 or 12-4, you can say that's on McDermott, because with more or less the same talent he did something vastly different from Rex. But 7-9 or 9-7, it'll mostly be wait until next year.

Nice, Astro. Thanks. Are you seeing much zone blocking? How does it look?

What's the weakest position on the team is an irrelevant data point. If your team is All-World, you still have a weakest position on the team. The question is how does this position compare with the other 31 teams? I'd guess it's not horrible, maybe in the range of 15th to 20th in the league, because there are plenty of teams that are hurting at right tackle. For most teams, the position is always a work in progress. Bengals starting right tackle has four career starts in two seasons, for example. The problem with right tackle is that if you have someone good, he moves to play left tackle, on your team or another team. The result is that the starting right tackle on most teams changes every year or two or three. The Bills have a Mills, a guy with good experience, Dawkins, a guy with a pretty high rating coming out of college, and Henderson, a guy who can play but with questions about him. That's about as much as you can expect at right tackle. It isn't a dumpster fire.

Thanks for these, Astro. Nice reports.

Thanks for the update interesting and thorough report.

I don't subscribe to the bad drafts notion, but I never understood the Jones pick. If the guy couldn't start in college with all his talent, why would anyone think he can start in the pros? Inches going to make it, its a 5+ year project. Let him get his experience someplace else.