LSHMEAB

That's exactly right. We keep focusing on completion percentage, but he's never going to be a 70 percent passer. What he does need to do to be that "gunslinger" is hit those deep shots. Start hitting those with regularity and it doesn't really matter if you're right around 60 percent.

That's all good and well, but the problem with this stat is that his YPA increased by a mere .1. As much progress as he made, he still only increased that number from 6.6 to 6.7. The key for Allen is not necessarily completion percentage, but yards per attempt. I don't care if his completion percentage remains stagnant if that YPA jumps into the 7.5 range. Air yards only matter if you're completing enough of the shots.

That's not the sign. The sign is contact. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

Just a fact. The good news is that many, many players grow to love Buffalo. I have always enjoyed my time in the B-LO and have nothing but love for the city. The bad news is that there's nothing you can do about the weather or the lack of "thrilling" attractions. So as it pertains to the Bills, the number one thing they can do is WIN. That automatically makes a locale more attractive to players. I think we're always going to have an inherent disadvantage in FA'cy. That's why you build through the draft and target guys who aren't looking for thrills or great weather in FA'cy. I actually like the answer of "anywhere on the East Coast" because it irks me when cities like Philly talk smack about Buffalo; as if they have great weather because it's a few degrees warmer on average. Get out of here with that nonsense. Your weather sucks too Philly!

So basically, most(if not all) human beings prioritize themselves and their own personal interests? Shocking! Looks like an interesting read, but nothing that should surprise anyone.

I'm a "fan" I suppose. The guy has a well deserved rap as "never getting it done," but he's also never had an elite QB. McNabb was never "elite." The similarities between he and Cowher are pretty striking assuming he finally gets it done now that he has Mahomes. I don't have any strong feelings one way or another, but I'd like to see him win(I guess.) The Bills aren't playing so I won't have a strong rooting interest in the SB.

I understand your point, but I believe that every single play MATTERS when you're talking about the NFL. Games are generally close and the margin for error is slim. By the same token, 4 FEWER completions would have meant something like 57.5(or close). The Bills have to add talent so Allen can fairly be assessed. That much is true. John Brown's inability to get his feet down at Houston was maddening. That's ONE play that mattered a great deal. As an aside, I'm not nearly as concerned about the completion percentage as I am the YPA. For all his progress, this number went from 6.6 to 6.7. I consider that to be an issue. It's largely reflective of the deep ball accuracy. If he's gonna be a gunslinger, something which he's certainly got the tools for, he's gotta hit the "shots" on a more consistent basis.

3 hours has elapsed and most of the guesses are jokes. Just provide the answer already!

All fair points and you clearly don't want to see them pay an RT. That's a perfectly reasonable view. But I'm trying to figure out they improve this particular unit and I wouldn't mind that kind of investment in a VERY good RT in both aspects of the game. Yeah, they got by with Mills, but they had Wood, Cogs, and Glenn. I don't see that here. Peters/Waddle would be solid additions and could certainly shift the paradigm. Not sure how much Peters has left in the tank though. Counter would be that Nsekhe is OLD and I must say I haven't been impressed with Ford, even at guard. That's actually my big concern here. They've got to put together a unit capable of pushing the LOS. It seems like it's become a "no brainer" that Ford would excel at guard. I'm not so sure about that. At all.

What if there's merit to "the less he thinks, the better he is." If you're getting hit, you have no time to think. You just throw. If you're facing 30 MPH winds, you're not expected to make a great throw, so also, less thought/more throw. As someone who generally relies purely on data and not "eyeball tests," it would be hypocritical to pretend like this is some kind of absolute. Nothing more than a hypothesis based on observation.

Conklin is definitely an appealing name. He's gonna get a big contract, but he is the type of RT that could help transform the efficacy of the run block game. Big time. I believe the OL was at least adequate in pass pro, but well below average in the run game. You bring in a banger like Conklin, kick Ford over to LG, and theoretically drastically upgrade the run blocking. That would depend quite a bit more on Ford's ability to play guard than it would Conklin, who's a proven commodity. I'm still not sure where Ford fits, but if he can't excel at guard, that pick went terribly wrong.

That's a valid argument. I don't know the specifics of this person's situation, so I can't speak to them. I can only speak to the broader problem of NFL players being prescribed dangerous drugs left and right, but facing suspension for something as benign as marijuana.

Uh yeah. It's a little different for NFL players. It's a felony if you don't have a prescription for Oxy's or whatever they do. It's perfectly fine if you're popping them like candy, but HAVE the script. That makes it somewhat "off" as far as I'm concerned, especially when you take into account the ease with which they're acquired LEGALLY for NFL athletes. Not quite sure I understand your point as my assertion was that the drug itself is secondary in the arrest; shoulda just got em from the doctor. When there's a felony charge, I think there should be an actual victim and or serve as some deterrent to activities that lead to crime (even that's dicey because I'm for legalization.) Considering he almost certainly could have gotten them from the team, stupidity appears to be the real offense. Not sure that's felonious activity.

I was gonna make a crack that history had wiped that season clean to preserve his legacy, so I checked PFR to make sure he was bad. He was not. Wasn't particularly prolific with only 16 TD's in 14 games, but still lad the lowest INT percentage in the league and lead the Chiefs to a 9-5 record. That guy was pretty good. As to which team he's rooting for, there's this kid named Jimmy and he's cracking some corn or so I've been told.

It's the Patriots, so I understand the mockery and such. BUT, if you remove the Pats for a moment(wish the Pats could be removed permanently), it seems pretty crazy that a guy faces felony charges for carrying around the same drugs he could likely acquire quite easily from the team docs. I think the felony charge is pretty crazy and misguided. The arrest should really be centered around the fact that it was just dumb to carry around the drugs without a script, not about the drugs themselves.

Seems a little over the top in terms of the number of FA acquisitions, but the 49ers are setting the template for what constitutes a GREAT defense circa 2020. With the more intricate offensive schemes we see in the league, getting after the QB is FAR AND AWAY the most important component of a game changing defense. You just can't expect to cover everyone, especially with the number of QB's able to extend plays. I think the Bills need to add at least one edge. McD is a very solid defensive coach. It's unrealistic to think you're going to accumulate the sheer number of pass rushers the 49er's possess, but the 9'ers success should cause all defensive minded coach's to take note. Gotta add at least one. Seems pretty obvious, but I'm talking about what you prioritize personnel wise. Every defensive position is important and you'd like to have good players at every level. But if you can only choose one unit to be great; choose the DL. Getting sustained pressure is far and away the best route to making great QB's look average. The Bills had a very strong defense in 2019, but the lack of a consistent pass rush and dynamic edge players reared it's ugly head a number of times. Even one solid addition could make a huge difference.

The Matt Millen approach on steriods! Kirby Jackson had this right. Drafting the right players really trumps all the stragery in the world. When you look back at drafts, it always comes down to WHO you drafted and not so much the "approach" that was taken. The Bills really do "need" to draft a WR; they don't need to do so in the first round. I will say my confidence level is not particularly high, but this would be a good time to start finding the right skill position guys.

Yep. Just bad form. I would add it may be even slightly more significant for a franchise like the Bills to not become a team known as "blockers." The cost of being "that team" is greater than the benefit of keeping any given assistant.

What annoys me here is that it's really not THAT difficult to field a complete RB corps and a strong run game seems paramount to Mc'D's overall approach. There are guys all over the league capable of doing far more than a Frank Gore.

So that brings up yet another tricky point. I'm not even sold on Ford at GUARD. With his size, he SHOULD be able to run people over, but I haven't seen it.

Center is such an odd position. There are so few guys that have the cerebral part down in addition to EXCELLENCE in the physical aspect of the game. An "effective" center really only needs to be a "solid" blocker as long as they're getting everything else right. Wood INDEED looked a whole lot better when he had help at guard. Urbik and Pears. Eeek. So yeah, I think Feliciano is fine at RG provided he's able to recover. I keep going back to that LG spot..

Ugh. See. This is where it gets tricky. Morse got the cash, so he's gonna be here. He's going to be the center and "hopefully" with at least one better flanker, his play will improve. I'm somewhat remiss to really critique Morse because it's a forgone conclusion he's gonna be the center. So knowing Beane will operate under that premise, I'm interested to see what they'll do at the G and RT position.

I would say RT is the only POSITION of concern personnel wise WRT pass pro. Nsekhe was certainly better than Ford when healthy. I saw your take on Ty earlier and perhaps that's correct. Maybe he can man down RT in 2020. We'll see. As far as overall issues with pass pro, I don't see any of the other 4 starters in 2019 as liabilities. There were definitely times when the communication/assignments were off(not a GREAT look for Morse or Daboll), but that wasn't necessarily a personnel issue. That's mainly on Daboll and Johnson. As far as PFF, there are a ton of diverging opinions and you very well may be right. I WILL say that Spain's run blocking "number" was exactly where I'd expect it to be, so there's that. The Bills need a "mauler"(becoming redundant with that word) and LG seems like the perfect spot to upgrade all things considered as it applies to the Bills situation.

As far as PFF, I said "some" merit because I do know NFL teams use their info. I've read quite a bit about their methodology that I can't recall at the moment because I'm losing EVERY bet I made, but I believe the consensus is that there are flaws, but the info is still somewhat useful. I think a great deal of the pass pro issues came from one position and that's RT. There were times when they seemed out of sync with the play call, but I'd say the pass pro was LESS of an issue than the overall run blocking. In other words, I think it's easier to fix the issues with pass pro considering there was a serious liability at just one position.

Knock these rankings all you want, but they certainly have some merit. Allen needs to get better. We all know that. Spain rated 45!!!! as a run blocker, which surprises me 0.0 percent. He needs to go. Cody Ford also graded low as a run blocker. That's a problem for a guy his size. My main takeaway is that the offensive line needs to add a couple part to become a competent RUN BLOCK unit. The pass pro wasn't all that much of an issue.