WideNine

Certainly there were a few placement issues on some of the throws, but I think that Allen also tries hard to put the ball in a place where his receiver will not get hung out and killed on a route; especially with a Williams defense where unsportsmanlike conduct and unnecessary roughness calls are expected operational expenses. There could well be a fine on the helmet to helmet that Allen took in that game on one of the "roughing the passer" penalties assessed to the Jets. The color-commentators gave Allen grief on the Beasley throw, but I am not sure that Cole is not lit up by the Jets S #30 Bradley McDougald if the ball was out front like they mentioned. He had a good angle on Beasley and if memory serves McDougald got in trouble once for a helmet to helmet on Amari Cooper when he played for the Hawks and Williams would not care if Cole got carted off. Either way Beasley is not the biggest dude and I think it was the right place to put the ball to keep him in the game. I also believe he threw a few to Diggs where he was trying to help him get low and outside to avoid the big hit. I like the ball coming out before the receivers are out of their breaks, really a next step in Allen's maturation. There is still a lot of work to be done, but he is coming along and the stats continue to trend overall in the right direction.

There seems to be this pervasive all or nothing polar responses in this thread. I don't think anyone is saying Allen should not run as it is part of his game. Many of the responses are just hoping that Daboll loses those designed Allen sweeps with lead blockers. Had some success early last year in the red zone, but teams have been feasting on those the 2nd half of last year and the less-than-awesome results so far this year should be telling Brian something about how teams are reading and blowing those up. "Alarm bells are ringing Willie"

Lamar had a great game and some throws on a rope. He is really good and is in a good situation in Baltimore. He is a better pure runner than Allen, but also has one of the best if not the leagues best run game and option/run coordinators in Greg Roman.

Cannot disagree... there are simply other ways to be creative in the red zone. This does not mean I was down on our team today, I just think that Daboll is being obstinate about those designed QB sweeps. You don't want your team to play scared, but neither do you want to be reckless with your QB. If they can just get Josh to set correctly for his passes on those roll outs to the left things will open up sideline to sideline for play action and misdirection. At this point defenses mostly ignore Allen when it is play action and he is rolling to the left (usually a non-passing threat rolling to that side) and just collapse on our RB playing the good odds he has the ball - that is why we saw receivers running cleanly with Allen when he kept the ball and rolled out left yet badly overthrew Brown in the EZ and why Allen walked into the end zone early in the game on a rollout to the left where the Jets sold out on the play action run and someone assigned to contain Allen didn't. I cringe however every time I see the tell-tale pulling linemen and Josh jogging behind them followed by the inevitable crowded clash of bodies. History has taught everyone except Daboll that those plays more often than not end up as Allen-fumbles or Allen taking a big hit he shouldn't. Allen seems to do better making yards on the fly or with the naked bootlegs/rollouts where he can pump fake a few times to create room with options to run/pass/throw-away and the sideline to work with.

Lest we forget. Those Woody rants after the 2018 spanking we laid on the Jets were priceless. https://www.pscp.tv/damienwoody/1kvJpEDLalmxE

It is clear that Allen prefers rolling to his right, but teams are planning for that. He will have to correct that bootleg left throw to both hit those easy shots and to keep the defenses honest when he fakes that bootleg on handoffs. It was wide open because it is obvious that teams across the league have scouted his preferences and tendencies and cheat right in coverage. A bit sloppy, but not as bad as a preseason game would be. I expected some of that...and the injuries with guys playing game speed for the first time. Allen has grown, but continues to make the easy stuff look really hard and the very hard plays look pedestrian. 300 yards is 300 yards. Will never be sold on the Allen designed sweeps unless they put a handle on the ball and wrap him in bubblewrap. There are other options. The Jets had a stout run defense last year, and it is still really good this year. Did not expect a lot on the ground. I am glad that Dabs did not abandon it. A lot to work on and some key defenders dinged...we will see how things shake out this week.

Bill Belichick was not about to go into this year rolling over. Figured if nothing else, he would have his defense ready to play lights out. I would think that Bill would love nothing more than proving he (not Brady) is the secret sauce for the Pats. Winning without Tom would help to do just that. Not sure how much Cam has left in the tank, but if anyone knows his blind/weak spots it would be McDermott.

Too early to say for any of the 2018 QBs, even Lamar who has been a perfect fit for Roman's pistol read-option offense and has had early success. Normally it takes a few years for QBs to hit their stride. I think success like Mahomes at QB is an statistical outlier. I think Darnold has flashed potential and yet I think he had a more epic meltdown against Belichick's defense than Allen, but folks seem to focus more on Allen's early game against NE. Allen's accuracy noticeably dropped when teams blitzed and used extra rushers. When teams sat back in different zone packages he ate that up as his ability to process defenses and know where to go with the ball grew with more time under center. When forced into making quick decisions and throwing off-platform Allen tends to fall back into some bad habits and mechanics. Pressuring young QBs into mistakes is nothing new and has been the playbook for going up against Allen. Allen completing plays, when blitzed into quick decisions, and making teams pay when they gamble with man coverage will be the next step in his growth. I think it is disingenuous to label Allen as the weak link on a strong team when just two years ago the Bills had such a patchwork offensive line that veteran QBs were destroyed trying to operate behind it and the team had to turn to a raw Allen (who was also injured early) to have a chance at winning games. Although he has hurt the team at times with erratic play it is safe to say he has also given them their best chance to win most games. He is still improving and Lombardi seems to be regurgitating a stale talking point.

I do believe our offense needs to average at least another score per game, but I also feel like our offense and Allen's focus was to play it safe and limit turnovers, particularly after that first terrible performace against NE. Our defence also needs to get a bit better at closing out games where we have the lead. Too many times last year when we gained the lead or were holding on to a lead our defense would have that late game collapse - giving up scores. Early in the season our red zone defense was superb at preventing TDs, but I felt that slipped a bit near the end of the year. I do recall we had a few amazing goal line stops. Either way, both sides of the ball need to become more complementary. If the defense gets a turnover or key stop our offense needs to do better turning those into points. If our offense has a big score our defense needs to come out and pitch some 3 and outs. If our offense sprints to an early lead our defense needs to close the door. If our offense can't score they need to slow the game down and sustain drives to give the D time to recover. Also our special teams needs to do a better job of tilting the field for our defense. I like our kick return game, feel like it was solid and we have a very good return man. If we see more of that this year, this will be a hard team to beat. Too many if's right now for me to take offense if someone does not crown our Bills AFC East champs without a game played. I honestly don't see NE, the Dolphins, or the Jets rolling over for us. I think they will all play us tough.

No arguments here. TE play has been a gap in the Bills' offensive arsonal for years while NE prioritized the position. Would like nothing better than to see the Bills develop their TEs. I like both our new TEs. Sweeney may be the stronger blocker and will be more effective with more route polish. Knox is frustrating in that he makes some spectacular circus catches and then drops others that are right on the money. I think his improvement area is his focus and consistency, otherwise he checks off all the TE boxes. Kroft could bring that veteran presence and play to the group if his feet and ankles hold up. Could well be an area of strength for the Bills next season.

Allen does throw some head-scratchers (like where the hell were you going with that one) and there is the hero-ball thing that he largely kept a lock on until the playoff game. Other than those random issues, the areas on the field that he struggled hitting the most in both seasons are pretty consistent and are so bad that they skew his aggregate average by a lot. Allen is going to be Allen. He is not Mahomes, or Breese, or any other QB out there. Overall he is improving, so I don't know if anyone has seen his ceiling yet. I don't think I have as yet, but we will see if we hit a point where the wheels seem to be spinning but he is not getting any better. The areas he struggles with the most are the deep ball - especially the middle and the short right side of the field. One of several positives that one can take away (if you look at NexGen charts) is that he seems to be chipping away at making progress around most all the intermediate and shorter routes with an exception. I am not sure why the deep ball was so poor this past year. The deep middle has always been an area he avoids (probably feels the sideline shots are safer bet, easier to read if his receiver only has one guy to beat, and he does not get a lot of practice when the middle opens up. May be that he was just trying to put more touch on the ball so his receivers could run under them, but mostly overshot a lot of those throws. He struggles hitting the shallow right side of the field both seasons, but last season may have had more to do with how piss-poor our pass blocking was on that side, as Ford had to sub in a lot for an injured Nsekhe. Nsekhe did a decent job in space, but Ford struggled a lot against speed and bull rushers off the right edge. I imagine it made for some interesting throws from Allen trying to side arm the ball around or throw between the arms of DEs in his face.

So...45 pages? The kid got caught doing something stupid. I am sure he knew as soon as he was pulled over that it was not a good look. Did a few bone-headed things myself at that age. Remember telling an officer who said he had trouble catching up to me that it sounded like a "personal problem". My wiseassery did not go over well. Fines and various punishments along with losing friends and family to careless drivers changed me. Becoming a father sealed the deal. Only time will tell if this is a one and done thing or something that becomes a problem. He is still young, will need to make some restitution. Some patience is not unreasonable.

Allen seems coachable. He made strides limiting turnovers last year and vastly improved his short game working the sticks. I think that if Daboll does a better job leveraging the run when it is clearly working that will help Allen tremendously too. Daboll can tend to overthink this and react to loaded boxes by shying away from the run, where i think you keep testing those fronts when you have the kind of running back that can make the first few guys miss and find a lot of daylight behind those backers and safties. Also when your QB in his first full year is starting to play erratically in his first playoff game where is that coach in his ear slowing things down for him...so some room overall for coaching improvement. From Allen what i would like to see is more accuracy on his deep balls - hitting the receiver in stride. He also must improve protecting the football when scrambling, or on designed runs; it was like he had an "eject football" button. Teams are going to feel like the book is out on how he protects the ball when running, that means more bodies sailing into Allen hoping to knock it loose. The 3rd year is important, but what i am looking for mainly is that he keeps trending in the right direction. Specifically, a bit more consistency against the blitz. Allen eats up a traditional zone defense, but drops off quite a bit against man with extra blitzers. Delivering that deeper ball against man coverage will force coordinators to rethink that blitz strategy more than anything else. Don't know if I see a lot of reason to think he will step backwards, would be more likely to improve as defensive looks become more recognizable...I guess we will find out.

I saw that, but Biadasz played with a torn shoulder, red-shirted as a freshman, and I think has started every game. I like that consistent high level of play and toughness. I will give him a pass on the ranking drop this year. Ruiz is not too shabby either. Not saying he hasn't earned the props.

If I went lineman in the 1st I would still take Wisconsin's Biadasz (even with the shoulder injury he played thru this year sans missing a game). Concensus 1st round grade at center last year and still near the top of the list this year. I like his tape, I like that he can hustle and pull from the center position much like Morris, and he brings the wood when he does. Scheme-wise his base skillset is a good fit for how Daboll likes to use that position. I still think we are always just a couple hits away from losing Mitch to concussion protocol, or having to hang up the cleats to have a few marbles left for retirement. I would not fault him if he has to ever make that tough choice. Feliciano filled in admirably when he had to, but we had to shuffle the deck a lot and the drop after Feliciano was pretty significant. Would not be a bad idea to groom a guy who could be a generational talent at the position. Not going to argue the merits of drafting o-line in the 1st. RT is a need too as I still think we need someone a bit more nimble there and Ford is a better fit inside. Bean could go in any number of directions, and receiver with size, speed, catch radius, and hands is on the menu - but a deeper position. Will be interesting to see who they pursue in FA to fill out the roster.

Nice kid with all the talent in the world, but once he got paid he lost any fire he had in his belly to work and just wanted to chillax and smoke pot. It happens. Some young athletes are driven to compete, some have a switch that coaches can easily flip to get them to compete, and some don't have enough of either and are a distraction you have to move on from. Hate to see the wasted pick, but glad the regime bit the bullet and pulled the plug.

Singletary is kind of unique in that he is not a big back, but he has a low center so is not easily hit cleanly, doesn't have breakaway speed, but has great vision and the ability to make the first guy miss and more often than pick his way through the traffic and rarely has negative plays. There are plenty of bigger backs that have a top gear and can bang it up between the tackles, maybe break past a stacked box into the open and then it is off to the races. Devin will need that kind of back who can spell him, throw a block, bang out a few yards, maybe break one or give Allen a viable read run option that defenses have to respect. There is always the chance he tweaks his hammy again too so we need the depth. Does not mean that Devin will not carry most of the load. I just want to see Daboll be a bit less predictable when he does sub his bigger back - extra TE packages into the game.

Don't see it. BPA for this group (Allen aside) is usually a defensive blue chipper. Where the Bills are sitting in the draft means there could be a bit of a run on a lean position before their pick which can have an impact on the BPA lens. There are plenty of impact RBs taken outside the first round, so see them going in other directions early.

I read that he improved in just about every area. So looking for that to continue with better conststecy and hopefully less drops with better receiving options. I don't see McD going away from his protect the ball at all costs mantra, but improvement is always good... We will see, if he hits a ceiling

I think it was more watching a large back not only beat 2nd and 3rd string nfl hopefuls, but blow past them like they were standing still. I for one did not expect him to move that well with the pads on. The powers at OBD felt it was worth stashing him for a year and seeing if he can pick up enough to have a shot down the road even if if was just covering if someone goes down. If they try to stash him on the PS again then good for Wade...you never know. Long shots have made it before. Would not call it obsession, but many here wanted to see more out of our 1-2 punch at running back. I am grateful for Gore carrying the load when Singletary went down, but he definitely lost a step the later half of the year.

There were a few successful ones later in the year, but I think their paucity of use had more to do with how teams played Allen. Even selling out blitz, defenses were aware and were coached to be diciplined on the edges and not to lose contain on Allen. Keep him in the pocket. That bit of hesitation from selling all out on rushing Allen fading back with the ball allowed more than a few savvy defensive linemen to sniff out the our oline and RB setting up screens and disrupt them.

Probably the wrong forum, but what posdible harm could there be in having all the press outlets owned by one or two huge conglomerates who can shape public opinion. "cough-cough indeed"

This is true. Most folks in operations roles get let go as companies centralize payroll staff, hr staff, IT support staff...leaving a token work force. If they say anything else it just means they need folks to stay in role long enough to train their existing replacements. Should just be a straight up above board retention bonus plan to keep folks around to train others, but I rarely have seen the honest approach taken.

Good point. I am not arguing to overpay, just that he is a good fit on a team that needs a guy that can get upfield on an interior pass rush rotation. The Bills may have that covered with Oliver and Harry coming back and some feel Oliver is better vs the run.

Wont find me disagreeing with you. Strong defense and a running game that can move the sticks are still the best way to keep a strangle-hold on a lead, milk the clock, and force a passing team into mistakes and turn overs. That being said there are a lot of teams that emphasize passing and empty sets and teams need to get to the QB.