WideNine

They can be kind and loyal to a fault, but I think they are transparent with their players and wisely keep disagreements or any dirty laundry in house. Rare these days with leaky front offices rife with disagreements played out unprofessionally on social media.

"You have been weighed, you have been measured, and you have been found wanting." Stats are tools. Tools used without context or enough information are not really tools at all and put a hammer into the hands of a child and they will just gleefully break things. A really ignorant and arrogant take that many had at the get-go. It just is not smart to issue a summary judgement of a pretty raw prospect with a high ceiling before they have played a down of professional football or had the benefit of pro-level coaching and training - without the benefit of enough information to get the most important stat... how the project player is trending in the right system. Patience is in short supply in this league and I can forgive coaches and GMs that are forced into that win-now mentality. I have less patience with pundits who take these ignorant combative stances, but have to keep in mind they are there to stir up controversy and rile up the masses so folks will debate and click on their content. GM's and coaches have the pressure of delivering immediate returns, and the affordable window that they have to bring a project up to the point of being productive for their team makes the effort a bit cost-prohibitive. You finally get a raw prospect playing up to his potential after a few years and bam you are hit with having to competitively bid on his services. I am thinking of one undrafted free agent monstrous TE misfit named Jason Peters that the Bills staff and O-line coach "Mouse" turned into an all-pro LT. Sure it was a mistake that Ralph and the FO did not want to spend the coin to retain him, but that is not where I was going - just illustrating the point that developing a raw-talent with a high ceiling is risky from both a time-spent/fail and a time-spent/succeed prospective. Beane has some serious cohones taking that kind of risk early in his Bill's GM tenure - would not want to play poker with that guy.

That "proof" will prove only the level of confidence or the Bills FO has in both Edmunds ceiling and his ability to attain it, or proof that they are capable of stubborn denial regarding his game-day struggles. The proof for me will be is he more of a game changer than he has been defending passes, creating turnovers and critical stops or TFLs; Does his play improve with a better NT in the middle of the line absorbing blockers? I had beef with PFF regarding Allen, not because of the stats, but because they closed their eyes to the piss-poor blocking and bottom-tier receivers he was working with. Even that did not torque me as much as the summary statements that he would never improve from the get-go without giving the time needed to see if he could trend in the right direction with better support. He was known to be a raw project coming out, the expectations should have better aligned to that reality. Edmunds was not considered a project and has had several years in the same system. We should expect to see more improvement.

Interesting. I know that Bowles has a 3-4 base coaching-tree background, but unlike traditional (think back to Parcels and Belichick) 3-4 defenses that promote 2-gap techniques for the defensive linemen (head up on the o-linemen so defender can take either gap), Bowles insists on using a 1-gap technique with his defensive linemen having them lining up and attacking the gaps and forcing double teams which often leave a man free to rush the passer. Helps that his interior guys were beating their doubles too.

Not sure, but his struggles settling on a QB and getting the team deeper into the playoffs hung over his head. Funny how over a decade of fail and no playoffs after he left softened the collective take. He may have been over his head as an HC, but he had a tough job of turning over an aging roster of fan favorites while trying to keep his team competitive as well as dealing with a meddling owner in Ralph. His stance on fielding a defense though, I think it is the right philosophy to have in this game with so much expected player turnover. https://footballscoop.com/news/wade-phillips-you-adapt-the-scheme-to-what-the-players-can-do-not-what-you-can-think-of/ “I don’t understand the people that say, ‘Hey, this is our scheme and that guy can’t play in it,’” Phillips said Friday. “Well, to me, there’s something wrong with your scheme. You adapt the scheme to what the players can do, not what you can think of."

I don't know if he had a specific scheme, but all day every day Wade. He was flexible and not tied to any particular scheme. Just got the best guys on his roster on the field and tried to put them where they could make plays. He turned a lot of poor team defenses around, but had some tough championship losses. I don't think any defensive staff was worse off having Wade at the helm, he would find a way to use what they had.

Perhaps our TE matchup felt more horrible than it was. The Bills were #1 in the league in rec given up to TEs and #2 in yards at 92 and 993 respectively. But viewed as degrees of separation TB gave up 86 rec and 832 yards. Would be interesting to see how that trended after they got Vea back into their lineup. They clearly did not need to blitz as much so the back 7 were likely beneficiaries of this change. San Fran and Detroit seemed to have the best stats, but have not given a lot of thought as to why - personnel, scheme, or the way teams preferred to attack them...

TB did not let Kelce wander free and sit, they jammed him at the line and pestered him throughout his route. Knowing Mahomes (much like Allen) thrives on escaping and extending plays they did not let up till the whistle. Their d-line did a great job of both pressuring the pocket and the edges where Mahomes has a tendency to drop back deep with pressure in his face. Mahomes is one of the best at throwing accurate balls while backpeddling, but hit and sack any QB enough and they get the "yips". We were agonizingly passive against TE's all year so I agree that what we have or what we are scheming is not working.

I have seen sites that monetize redirects as more of a formal partnership on content.... Less of a poaching stance between parties and more of a collaborative agreement where content and services verticals do not compete. TBD is well-entrenched and has a great reputation (tip the hat to actively engaged and even-keeled moderation) so... hard to fault how Scott is maintaining his "house". It has been interesting watching the evolution from the rudimentary D&C message board to what it is today. I will visit other sites, but having bounced around the country I always feel like TBD is my WNY home.

I don't know if it is much more complicated than you are subbing an extra safety for a DB in your Nickel package. Many teams use it often as a means to better matchup with athletic TE's... The idea is to insert more size into your nickel package yet have a player that still has the skill set needed to cover slot receivers, skate with TE's, provide run support, and blitz. There are actually some decent prospects in this thin draft; LB/S tweeners and pure college safeties that could fit the bill. Taron Johnson, Marlowe, and Neal are used in this role for the Bills. Taron had the most reps, prob the best in zone coverage - at least down the stretch. Johnson is the smallest of the 3. Frazier rarely gave them the green light for zone dog/fire zone blitzes, but the few times he turned Marlowe and Johnson loose they got into the backfield and produced a handful of sacks. Johnson plays fearless, but with his smaller frame gets dinged often. He struggled early last season picking up his assignments in coverage, but had some game-changing red-zone plays later in the season. Seemed like he earned more defensive snaps as the season progressed. A nickle player (safety) that could better matchup size-wise and in coverage vs TEs is still a need on this team. An older article about McDermott's "Buffalo Nickel" concept is an interesting read in hindsight. McD would sub an extra LB rather than another Safety into his heavy nickel packages, but the theory is it was more out of necessity as he did not have the athletic depth at safety and was better off subbing his LB who had coverage skills. https://www.buffalorumblings.com/2017/7/17/15981386/sean-mcdermotts-buffalo-nickel-defense-explained-matt-milano-buffalo-bills

Many of us have participated in the Great Edmunds debate OP here on the Wall, but I just found an article that seemed to capture all the facets and concerns that some folks have as well as giving a nod to the accolades - it is a good read. https://coldfrontreport.com/tremaine-edmunds-the-man-or-the-myth/

Edmunds has struggled in his Bills MLB role specifically giving up yards and missing tackles against the run and sweeps. The MLB has to be able to play the run, so I don't think that is an optional thing in our defense even in a pass-heavy league. In passes defended he had a subpar year last year as well. An argument can be made last year that the DL play in front of him was not the best - I acknowledge that. I do think he is a good football player, but I still believe that at 6' 5" he is not a good fit for MLB and never was. Kuechly who is often mentioned as the archetypical MLB that McDermott would prize for his defense was tall for the position at 6' 3", he was a college OLB that Carolina converted to MLB and he blossomed in that role, but he was also a rare talent at LB who was great in coverage and stout against the run. In 2018 he posted 20 tackles for a loss - that is insane I still think OLB was Edmunds more natural fit given his size, build, and range and that he would have excelled in that roll, there is no need to exaggerate the critique some fans have of his game. I do think Edmunds is uber-athletic and can ball, but in his case I feel perhaps the Bills are forcing him to fit a system that was successful because once upon a time in Carolina they had a very rare talent at MLB vs adapting our defensive system more to fit Edmunds' unique skills. It could very well turn out that if Edmunds were released another team would use him in a better way. Against Baltimore he was arguably the best defender on the field. Not sure if it was the scheme they came up with in that game or if his reads and assignments were easier to digest, but he was decisive and was sideline to sideline making plays and he bottled up Lamar really well. I am not mad if anyone disagrees with me. I just want to see the Bills play well and their defense come up with more 3 and out stops. I also want the Bills to be able to sign and keep a great core they can continue to build around for years so they have to invest in players wisely. It is in Beane's hands and our opinions about his play wont factor into his decisions. The next couple years with contracts maturing are likely going to have more than a few roster moves that will keep TBD actively arguing the merits of each move.

Another aspect to middle linebacker play that I forgot to mention with Edmunds is his height (6'5") and how that may play into the difficulty keeping the pad-level low to stick your tackles and shed blocks. A recent article featuring NFL scout commentary on this year's draft prospects regarding a LB prospect reminded me of this. "At 6-4 trying to play inside linebacker, it will be hard to get his pads down, and he’s not gonna run around people like he’s in Conference USA. The way the league’s going now, the best middle linebackers, Devin White, Roquan Smith, Devin Bush, Pat Queen, Lavonte David, are all like 6 feet or shorter, and it’s such a space game now."

Thanks for the info... I thought the book on Mongo was his run blocking was solid if not spectacular and he was a finisher, but he seemed off balance and was lunging a lot down the stretch. The drop in play would make more sense if he was playing through an injury. I do like him as a depth guy that can be serviceable and cover a lot of positions in a pinch and he clearly wants to be here.

It may seem that way, but I am not sure if that is the entire analysis. With Morse he is not a mauler able to power-block and move anchored NTs on the interior but he excels at pin & pull blocking and zone blocking outside where he can out-position DL players on the move to gain leverage. So it is less about his run blocking and more about the type of blocking they want him to do. Mostly I think it comes down to offensive philosophy and the kind of talent you have on your o-line. If you have a lot of mobile offensive linemen who can block on the move you can go with more zone and pin & pull run blocking. If you don't, or if you are determined to run between the tackles, you have to have centers and guards who can move big athletic D-linemen off their spot. I have seen linemen that are good at both run-blocking and pass-pro - Dawkins on our own squad is not too shabby at both. Morse is an above average center, but I have seen him get fork-lifted back into the pocket on more than a few occasions. So the critique on him has just been how stout he is against the bigger, more physical NTs both in pass-pro and run-blocking (and the concerns with his concussions). He was benched for a game (whatever semantics McD put on it later), but after his return to the field I thought he played pretty sound football down the stretch - I thought Mongo had more issues nailing his blocks. I like both players, but they are positions that the Bills have to consider upgrading after the way KC snuffed out our run game and destroyed our pocket with just their front 4. I think we are going to need more out of those positions to take the next step.

I can easily picture him kicking up his heels, drink in hand, and lurking on a few sites like these and checking out the tweets just to chuckle and bask in all the chaos and misdirection.

I would not mind Creed at 30. I think there are very few elite talents in the 1st at positions of need for the Bills without reaching, but there are some really good o-linemen that should be there at 30 and the upper half of the 2nd where the value fits better. Would project as a solid future replacement for Morse. Aligns with Beane's comments about his draft focus being on the future. The Bills have quite a few players that are nearing the end of their manageable contracts that Beane has to think about replacing.

Folks get wrapped around the axle each year around the draft. Most prognostications have been off the mark, especially the way Beane trades up and down. The closest I have seen is when many of us suspected he would take Oliver over the TE the Lions grabbed... I don't think either have quite lived up to their potential yet. I kind of just want to skip the drama and get right to the yearly bitching about the picks already. 🙂

Covid-19 sucks...especially the long-hauler effects they are uncovering. Was worried for Sweeney as you can't be an athlete and have your ticker missing beats. Thought it could turn into a chronic myocardial arrhythmia. Good news for the kid.

Well they did move the original Browns team to Baltimore changed the name and won a SB. If that was our Bills... knife twisted and salt in the wound. I can give Brown's fans that much.

I definitely see Tampa going this direction. They exercised their 5th year option on Vea, but I see them letting him test the market rather than roll up the Brink's truck next year - they have a lot of players they will want to sign to stay competitive. Getting a serviceable replacement for Vea in this draft would be a logical cap-friendly move. If Vea does hit the open market, it will be interesting to see what some team will be willing to pay. He is arguably near the top of the league in regards to the NT position, but did have injuries that kept him out of the lineup for most of last season till the stretch run near the end...

It's 2 pro bowls (to clarify he did replace Hightower last year so was an actual participant). But as has been noted, being named as an alternate on the first affects the the compensation. Probably why there was some confusion.

It's 2.... 2019-20 season (I believe as an alternate to Hightower) and last season. Just saw "Rock-A-Bye Beasley" beat me to it and clarified what the alternate status means to the calculation