Richard Noggin

THIS is the kind of football talk I like to nerd out with. Analyzing McD's 3rd down disguises, be it up front and/or on the back end, really also highlights the absolute necessity of keeping offenses behind the sticks. In order to employ his various and interchangeable pressure/cover packages, McD's defense MUST stop the run well enough to earn those 3rd-and-longs (at least at some point in a given drive). Otherwise they're left playing a more vanilla, read-and-react approach that gets carved up by NFL offenses. Why I love football so much: the interrelatedness of all things. The ultimate team sport (and the team extends well beyond the players on the field).

And avoid contact.

Looked good on the field this preseason. Just like he did last season, minus the bowl game. He's a good RB.

Those puns are likely coming from the older crowd, sir.

This speaks to the whole WARNING: THIS VIDEO CONTAINS PRESEASON FOOTBALL EVALUATIONS that should be prominently displayed as like a watermark or something. Of course we love the content here (and Baldy's breakdowns in general), and the promise shown when Bills players whoop on opposing players, BUT: it's preseason. Level of competition is an x-factor. Especially when the opposing team has had a rash of injuries at the positions being negatively highlighted. It's like exponentially unreliable in that case. That all being said, it's exciting to see the young d-linemen, including Epenesa, look so physically promising. You gotta have it.

Maybe he's NO LONGER a starter in the NFL? While he played at an above average level for several seasons with the Bengals, I just don't see it anymore. He is a fringe starter at best, and a solid backup at worst. If Dalton is your starter in 2021, then you've got a QB problem.

Keeping Addison is fine, UNLESS it means exposing someone younger and more dynamic/versatile like a Bam Johnson or Efe Obada. One last season of mediocre Mario Addison is not worth letting a promising, younger player go. I'm sure Addison can still be a replacement-level producer this season. But Johnson is a physical prototype who's been a STs beast and is now starting to put it together on defense. Obada looks like a specimen who can give the Bills value on the end and inside. Getting bigger and more physical up front was a focus, and Addison is not part of that movement. Sure begins to feel like the Basham pick was a luxury that will cost us something else. Hopefully he progresses to the point where that doesn't matter, eventually.

Meh.

Brenkus for the win!

Two thoughts on the clips on page one: 1) Is Beasley kinda cheating that ladder drill? He's definitely pitter-pattering impressively like a drum roll, but don't guys usually work laterally across each rung of the ladder, with both feet alternately landing inside and outside? Just a thought/query. I'm sure there are other uses for the ladder. and b) Josh Allen has quietly, but dramatically, unveiled a MUCH different throwing motion than he featured last season. His front shoulder is staying closed a lot longer now. He's keeping that left shoulder pointed at his target, which reduces the moving parts in his delivery (fewer opportunities for something to go wrong). He was way more open last year. We'll see if he can stay this "quiet" and controlled in his delivery during live action.

One could make the argument that an offense DESIGNED to gain 6-7 yards per successful play is more of a dink and dunk approach that would RELY upon a high 3rd down conversion rate. Usually about 2 out of 3 plays succeed, for good offenses (if we look at QB completion percentages, for example), so...there would be 3rd downs as such an attack matriculates down the field. Just saying. It's not quite as simple and implicit as you might think. I really saw those Patriots offenses thriving in 3rd-and-managable.

Which of the CBs listed fit the Bills scheme? I'm thinking Griffin, Fuller, Sherman (obviously untouchable)...but who else? Griffin got kinda paid. Fuller's one-year deal ain't cheap, either. (I'd prefer either right now, for sure, and happily cut other vets to make the room.) But I don't think Beane wants to use FA to find a 2nd CB.

There were, of course, mitigating factors in the Chiefs games you cite. Injuries no doubt played a part. But I agree that the team overall seemed less aggressive and less effective/composed. Coaches and players. Interestingly, I think Spagnuolo and the Chiefs D was actually daring the Bills offense to be LESS "all-out, damn the risks." They knew the Bills strength and challenged them to adapt. (Much like the Bills tried to do in the first game on defense against the KC offense...and we all know how that turned out: KC was able to switch gears and take what was given on the ground. Repeatedly.) In the AFCCG, if Allen had been able to slow down, get his protections right, and take the hot reads and underneath stuff, it might have been a different game. Who knows what Daboll wanted him to do...

Full disclosure: I voted YES, but I don't think there exists a vet CB out there who is available and can actually help the Bills, AND I don't think the sign-a-vet CB program has been particularly efficacious thus far (I'm thinking of Josh Norman and especially Vontae Davis). Norman made one meaningful play (against the Raiders) last season, at least. Kevin Johnson made a few plays the year before that, if he qualifies. EJ Gaines wasn't a major weakness prior to that. But on the aggregate, they haven't been better than JAGs. In the absence of another high-value asset opposite Tre White, hopefully Jackson and Neal and Lewis and Wildgoose can grow into their important depth roles. And of course the Bills need Wallace and Johnson to keep improving as starters.

With all due respect, I don't think the Bills particularly value "speed" for prospective CBs. Sure, guys have to be able to run and close on the ball. But timed speed isn't nearly the trait to focus on here as it might be elsewhere. In Buffalo, the traits to focus on are more difficult to pin down. I know that ideally length, physicality, and awareness are desired for zone corners. Guys like (a younger) Richard Sherman and Josh Norman are the models. On the contrary, Deion Sanders, for example, would theoretically be a bad fit. (Naturally, any competent DC should eagerly modify his coverage schemes to accommodate such a generational talent.) Don't get caught up in my hyperbolic use of Primetime. He was all speed and ball skills. Bump-and-run and press-man all day. He turned and ran with WRs. The Bills want CBs who more often play off-coverage and primarily face the LOS. Size and smarts are more valuable than raw speed here. Although, having typed that, I'm pretty sure most of our CBs are not very big by NFL standards...

Agreed. No doubt an offensive approach that intentionally ignores the run for essentially entire halves of professional football games is not being designed by old school football traditionalists. Kudos to McDermott for allowing Daboll et al (I forget the analytics person's name) to be so progressive. Maybe this year they can temper SOME of that progressive/aggressive approach to keep opposing defenses guessing more.

I don't disagree, but...would you care to elaborate upon how that compares/contrasts/relates to the topic of THIS thread? Easy for me to see how it might relate, but I guess I'd like to know how the poster who brought it up sees it. Thanks.

I think you're on to it right here. Rosen was never enough of a "jock" or "gym rat" to overcome adversity at the pro level. He's unlikely to connect with and inspire a diverse locker room of gladiators, many of whom are annually sacrificing their bodies for chances at brief careers. To the contrary, I commend McBeane for their holistic appreciation of Josh Allen.

Need bodies to eat up reps? If he isn't going to be of value to the team in the regular season (which we all hope/know he won't be), then he can serve to reduce the wear-and-tear on others in the meantime. Of course, the preseason QBs might disagree with that assessment.

No one gonna give Rodgers props for his sense of humor on that one? I'm in the minority among football fans, as I've always liked his persona. Seems smart and funny to me.

But isn't that how roster development works for teams interested in the kind of sustainable success Beane has aspired to? (I'm thinking of organizations like GB, PITT, and BAL when I type this. Teams that have QBs (for the most part), and rely elsewhere upon sober, draft-based, long-term roster-building (for the most part). They don't behave like KC or the LA Rams, with their high turnover and reduced reliance upon drafted depth.) I understand the desire for the most recent 2nd-round pick to be spent on a promising CB or OL instead of another DE. But outside of that, I'm not sure what the better approach would be.

Sure. But the kid displays demonstrable confidence, backed up by early results, that bodes well for him in such a high pressure position.

Um...

Can you quote my "next level" posting? I was just suggesting you don't need to be so defensive. Your opinion is valid.

Take it easy there, guy. No need for such drama. You can have an opinion on backup D-linemen without assuming a defensive stance. I, too, wonder if Butler's size and expense gives him a slight advantage over Zimmer in the eyes of McBeane. Beane was in Carolina when they drafted Butler, and he (Butler) DOES have the pedigree GMs often covet. Whereas Zimmer, despite his seriously ELITE athleticism, is always operating from behind.