MasterStrategist

They already brought in what they viewed as a competent vet --- Tre White. We have to hope our 1st rounder can take the reigns, once he sees the field. And maybe, Dorian Strong will come back this yr. To your original post, Hoecht & Oji --- its about improving on depth + bringing something to our pass rush. Vast improvement on depth, translates to better 1st/2nd down results and pass rush opportunities.

I agree with the premise of preparing for a backup qb. We have major issues, if we are calling facing Andy Dalton "bad news for us". No matter the QB, its a run first offense that has had some very good success lately. That's the biggest storyline this week -- Hoecht and Oji back, coming off a bye, can our defense stop the run? Can our offense regain our rhythm? Young or Dalton, to me it doesnt matter.

How should he acquire them then? You're saying 2022? My point isnt some longer drawn out history lesson. Its that Beanes evaluation of WRs has been terrible. Kincaid (glorified WR/TE flex), Keon, Samuel, and Palmer --- meh talent. He had several options to draft for 2023 and 2024, then in FA. And it's not just WR. Its DL and secondary too. Drafting ok players, hitting on some solid guys, but its the same story every yr --- no splash guys. We've put 30+ points, up till the last 2 weeks. Im just as angry about the losses, but big picture im more frustrated that we need top 10 level Drafting and FA/cap mgt, when paying an elite QB like Josh. Brown, Beas, Sanders were all #2/3 types when Beane brought them here. Problem is, similar player signings and draft picks have worked out terribly - has nothing to do about supposedly "forcing a pick". Every team has holes to fill in the draft every yr --- its about who you pick, and in FA making smart decisions. Beane has been bad at both aspects going back the past couple yrs.

Problem is Beanes philosophy of winning with #2 types, or who they thought would be #2s. He invested a 1st in Kincaid --- a move alot of this board liked. But it wasn't what we needed. He panicked when Addison went off the board IMO. Essentially a 1st in Keon. Someone who you liked, but isnt winning his matchups. Then decent #2/3 money, in Shakir, Palmer and Samuel. Im not against this approach of Beanes. He has just majorly whiffed on alot of these player decisions. To say we haven't aggressively gone after a #1, is like saying we know our 2023 1st and 2024 1st were gonna suck out of the gate. Those are legit chances to get a borderline #1 type. He screwed the cap with decisions on #3 WR types --- thats massively hampered us - and obviously made poor decisions. So my biggest gripe isnt what positional decisions, its their constant "misses"

That was a legit hold if you rewind it - total takedown. I think the officiating has been decent so far. Porter and Ramsey are very aggressive/very handsy

Cincy run game is bad, you have the best 1-2 wr combo and an accurate passer. I think it makes sense

Technically Flacco's debut was last week - but home debut yes. Go Bengals!

100% agree. I think there's a debate internally here, how much McD influences roster decisions -- especially defensive player acquisitions (FA and draft). I'd say you always have coaches input on what they consider a "need" heading into next yr. If somehow McD is getting any more input than that, then its a problem now and future. Then im all for firing both

100% - Josh wants to win just as bad as anyone in this organization/ fanbase. He isnt making selfish or illogical decisions. Having so much success on offense LY, was a MAJOR outlier. We replay that season 100x and we'd find a far less successful outcome --- why??: 1. Turnovers: we were near perfect , little to no skill player fumbles recovered by opposing team + Josh was seeing the field near perfectly 2. OL play: we were darn near elite LY. This year has been inconsistent, and not near as good 3. Defense: as bad as they were against the pass and getting off the field on 3rd down, they created ALOT more turnovers and great field position for the offense. That Atl fumble, LY no offside, this yr those types of errors are occurring. Talent level was just as bad LY, same with injuries (remember year of the wrist). We just shouldn't expect Josh to play like superman every week and we did get a lot of bounces our way. What happens when Josh has poor games or we dont win the turnover battle? We tend to lose and thats what weve seen past 2 weeks. Bound to happen and many here said our level of offensive performance was NOT sustainable

And thats fair. Just depends how they conduct a GM search and any shift of "power" that McD currently has. I'd be pro-McD staying, if I knew his input on draft/FA acquisitions was limited to "positional focus" only. Which nobody knows what the current balance is - pure speculation. I have no problem with the positional focus - I do have issues with poor roster mgt, cap mgt, and player evaluations. Simply said, if we take the 2023 and 2024 drafts - and replace Kincaid and Keon with players at same position who have had much better NFL results to date (or a pure WR instead of Kincaid) --- we are likely not having this conversation. Same can be said about Safety, DT, DEs, and FA Wrs. Its wrong guys being brought in - too many mistakes with early picks starts to add up to a HUGE problem when paying a QB like Josh. Need to be hitting on draft WAY better.

Exactly this. We are also not "1 player" away from a championship roster. Unfortunately. Beane, front office, coaches, some combo - whoever people want to blame is being discussed in other threads. But pointed at these trade threads --- we shouldn't waste any high draft picks at this point of season --- you do that before the year. Beane "trusted" some of these 2nd year, 3rd year guys to make a BIG jump and the rookies/FA signings to fill out the team. So far, that 3rd category is "TBD" (injuries/suspensions), but the likes of Keon and Bishop have been disappointments and Kincaid needs to stay healthy. It is what it is, now the coaches have the bye week to figure out some adjustments.

I have the opposite thought...if he stands pat, I see that as a potential sign they replace Beane in 26--- and dont want to handicap the new GM.

Problem isnt which positions are being targeted, more on this in a sec, but its the players ultimately that Beane and his scouts recommend. Going back to 2023 draft - we invested our 1st pick in a "receiver", but its actually a hybrid TE/Slot. Why did we do this? Especially when Knox was under contract and we really needed a boundary WR still (thinking ahead to losing Gabe at a minimum in 2024). Then in 2024, again 1st pick is offense (Keon). Right position, wrong player. Add on: WR FA signings have been crap thus far, 2024-2025. Draft: 23: discussed Kincaid. Torrence was an excellent pick in Rd 2. But then rest of draft is suspect/not on team 24: discussed Keon. Then Bishop looks like a 50/50 shot to bust out. Carter looked bad at end of LY, now injured. 25: too early to tell - injuries aren't Beanes fault- but Walker looks like a future core guy. Position focus has been on point (except the selection of Kincaid, which should've been a WR IMO). Its the player evaluations and pro scouting (FA moves), that is just plain pitiful the past two offseasons. Bottom line, 24 and 25 if we wouldve picked the same positions, but selected different players, we might be in a much better spot. Thats why I dont blame McD, he isnt running a scouting dept all season.

I dont know if Shaheed or anyone else out there, moves the needle enough for this season. We should still inquire, but this WR room needs a major overhaul. Shakir and Palmer are only 2 worth keeping. But they are complementary guys --- we need a borderline legit #1 type. Palmer and Shakir would benefit and round out the room nicely --- and go find a number 4/5 with speed. Again, major overhaul thats been 2 years in the making - I'd rather we see another GM make these decisions for us in 2026+.

This is all on Beane, offense is horrible right now bc of lack of WR talent- simple. We score on our 1st drives of each half-- thats when you script plays/most impactful of coaching adjustments. Brady 2 for 2. But Beane was counting on a 2nd year jump for Keon, Palmer to create more downfield playmaking, Shakir to continue improving (hence the new deal), and Kincaid to stay healthy & jump his game. Beane made each of these decisions --- next year, maybe we have a new GM that actually realizes our talent deficient group at WR cant be solved by Josh Allen alone. Trade deadline will tell alot -- especially if "extreme" --- ie: trading a future 1st or standing pat and making no move. Either of those options points to either a desperate GM or one who is being told to stand down.

Daboll was heavily involved in the decision process - go find the draft recap / video that came out after drafting Josh when Schoen and Beane were interviewed on the process leading up

100% this. Can you imagine if Daboll wasnt here to help with evaluating Josh? This isnt about Daboll, but hes 2 for 2 drafting his QBs (Dart looks like the real deal). McD with another GM here next yr --- that would be ideal at this point.

Agree -- Allen is human, and he has bad games. Too many posters on here, do everything they can to point the finger at someone else --- but hard truth, is that sometimes Josh is out of sync too. Obviously the good news, Josh will fix this. We all got spoiled with LY's remarkable play + our offense being able to play near perfect at times. The talent surrounding him, or lack thereof + injuries, is causing him to "press" too much. He's leaving the pocket too soon on plays and not seeing the field consistently right now. Talent isn't fixable (at least until a major trade or next offseason), but now Brady has an entire bye week to adjust his offense to counter what defenses are showing us. Extremely difficult to assess Joe Brady and his offense --- when we're so handicapped at WR right now (aka Beane's lack of talent that he's found). I genuinely think Joe is a very good coordinator -- he took a struggling offense in 2023 and reset that to go on a winning streak. In 2024, he coordinated one of our top offensive PPG in team history and a Josh MVP season. He didn't forget how to coach overnight.

Great summary, @Virgil. @GunnerBill, agree with main points 100%. For the life of me, I don't understand how Beane doesn't shoulder 80% of the team's issues right now. I'll repeat what everyone has said, but it's such a simple concept --- we have a generational QB, but no way this talent is going to let him play to his potential --- Beane has NOT done a good job finding him a capable WR room. Just handcuffing Josh right now --- he's clearly frustrated and not sure what else he can do at this point, b/c we have nobody who can win on the boundary. McD needs to let Babich walk and just take over defensive calls. Not ideal and tough with that relationship, but McD needs to make the tough decisions. Joe Brady is a capable coach -- I feel like Josh, he's trying to do too much, but he's "pressing" b/c teams have figured out how to defend us and dare our boundary WRs to win routes. This bye week is perfect timing. We need a reset --- but not sure we're going to solve our most glaring issue --- WR talent. Then we need to figure out how to fix our safety room. Beane set this franchise back with 4 key decisions IMO: 1. Signing Samuel 2. Drafting Keon 3. Drafting Cole 4. Not looking for a legit starter at FS in '25 FA --- there were plenty of options and instead, we stuck with Rapp Plenty of other questionable decisions by Beane and some bad injury luck -- but we're in a much better spot if he found 1 legit WR and 1 legit S, over the past 2 seasons. This is all on him/scouting --- RIGHT positions / WRONG players (poor evaluation)

Maybe I have bad info, but I was told Walker lined up with starting 4 at warmup. Before Jones pulled his calf.

Jones wasnt even starting tonight - it was Walkerz even if Jones didnt hurt his calf. Now you can call me a dick again- but youre just wrong again

Somehow youre glued to your opinion. Im telling you what's happening, but you dont want to believe it. Not being a dick, but if youre so sure of your opinion than not sure what to tell ya. Time will prevail and we will see Beane let go.

Defense needs to work a cohesive unit. We finally got Ed back. Walker has been a revelation - but who else are Dt? Jones is just one of many not deserving to start. Then we have a rotating door of P/S guys being called up each week. At some point, you have to be honest and say DT is a major issue right now. Maybe Oji helps, but this is a weak group behind wave 1.

This feels like a deep convo - that started with "we would use Garret as a contain rush, similar to Groot". Then evolved to "Groot has been allowed to eush the past 2 weeks". Groot is a solid player when healthy. But hes had injury issues, which changes how we use him. Foot, Knee, etc. This whole issue about using him as contain is just wild though. Believe it---Sure Jan.

100%. We have dillusional fans pinning this on coaching. In what world do a combination of Shavers/Coleman suffice as boundary WRs? Where does the Rapp/Bishop combo rank? How about Dion and Edwards are regressing. Milano can't stay healthy. Beane isn't a fortune teller. But this man has mishandled a LOT of situations. Its put this team in jeopardy of losing a division to a slightly above avg Pats team. All while wasting another year of Joshs career. Bandaid has to be ripped off and move on from the scouting dept.