MasterStrategist

Don't act so level headed. You know our window is closing, sky is falling, no Dhop=no SB...and most important, KC might get him instead of us, oh no. You're spot on with this. Although I'm expecting a million replies about being worried about salary cap, amongst other gripes. In reality, our team (led by Beane/staff) has made ample improvements at key areas of concern. And echoing your point, we also have young/potential budding stars on both sides of the ball. This isn't the end of a dynasty, but just the start

Bills didn't lead the league in drops, had 29, which was 2nd worst. 7 teams had 26 drops or more, including the SB winning Chiefs. Gabe had 7 drops, tied for worst in the league with Jamar Chase, Travis Kelce and others. Stefon Diggs 6 drops. Obviously the team could do better in this area. But let's not have mic drop moments about stating incorrect information, and acting like the importance is so paramount....it's gonna happen when you have a team throwing alot and our style of QB play...lets ask Chief fans how bothered they are with having 26 drops.

Very fair and well said! Can't argue the merits of this, we will see how this shakes out. Either way, I'm feeling good about our current group...Dhop would be a nice bonus, but not necessity to me I guess it's just as important as others posting a dozen times on their thoughts, or posting eye roll emojis,, or someone who spends time as a moderator. People quote you and you respond, it's a message board...figured that comes with the territory.

At what cost? Or does that not matter If you're ready to bucket Shakir with Ford, that's a you problem. I'll take it to the reputable mechanic, ***that's not overpriced. That's what this boils down to me, is cost for Dhop...

The dropped passes stat, can you please share the specifics/source? It's been said alot, assuming someone actually provided our stats from LY by player. Smoke got meaningless snaps. Beas was brought back because our top slot option broke an ankle, Isiah was inconsistent/struggled against zone, and our 5th round rookie was learning the ropes. Beane has since talked up Shakir, brought in Harty, and used a 1st on Kincaid. That's an upgrade, and this isn't enough for you?

This team as is, can compete and win the SB. Just like LY and the year before. Nobody was complaining after the KC loss, except about 13 seconds and lack of DL pressure (maybe toss RT into that too). All of a sudden, after the team (entire group) played poorly against Cincy, we need another all pro WR? Makes no sense.

Depends if you think Dhop puts us in SB contention/how much does it move the needle? Yes our offense is likely better, but by how much? We've been a top scoring/top end offense and the defense failed us against KC 2x, then against Cincy that was a complete team failure. Beane might not need to buy patience, Pegula might not agree with you. And everyone has a different risk level, depends what you define as too much caution....again, likely not Beanes view.

Agree about AZ. But at the same time, let's not act like that all of a sudden Dhop being released opens the Beane/Pegula piggy bank. Cap concerns still exist, if you like or not, Beane doesn't want to leverage too much future cap. We also don't know what Dhop is asking for, but can imagine it's OBJ $ territory. It's a luxury to have 2 all-pro WRs, agree? Please explain if you think this is a necessity, because Beane could spend this $$$ next year or the year after or the year after....to improve other positions, specifically OT/DT. This is like taking my 5 yr old into the store, and he wants the new/shiny toy. There's always going to be that new/shiny toy though, and this is just my opinion, but Dhop doesn't put us over the top. This is a move I make when we lack a true Wr1, which is exactly what other recent teams did (that HappyDays and others cited)...such as OBJ to Rams, Aj Brown to Philly, etc. Those teams lacked #1/demand defensive attention type Wrs....we dont.

Unless Dhop takes a significant pay reduction or heavy incentive-laden deal, there's no way Beane pulls the trigger now. He would have done it already, instead invested in at least Kincaid and possibly others since his potential trade talks stalled. Last 3 seasons : Josh averaged 575 pass attempts 1. Diggs avg 150-160 targets Let's say Dhop takes another 150, thats less than 300 targets to go around for : Davis, Knox, Kincaid, Shakir, Harty, and our RBs (which is supposedly a reason we liked Cook and traded for Hines). That's a significant wasted investment at this point, again, if we have to pay Dhop anywhere near OBJs deal. To me, Beane is smart enough to know Dhop was likely getting released. I'd love to have Dhop too. But it is highly unlikely for us now, unless Dhop surprises and takes less money

For every "Saints" situation, you have the Steelers, Chiefs, Packers, etc. Id list NE but theyre a different breed with the GOAT and best coach. Teams that didn't mortgage their future, won at least 1 title and had competitive teams year in and year out. Btw, how many titles did the Saints win? You can disagree with Beanes philosophy, but he said his 1st press conference that he intends to have 1 eye in the now and 1 toward the future. Building a consistently competitive team. Hitting on the draft is critical, and being smart with his spending. That's been his focus. Oliver and Davis could very well be in our plans beyond this season. Beane has stated that, unprompted, but obviously the price has to match the value.

Defense: Elam and Groot. I'm convinced something happened behind the scenes with Elam LY, causing him to be in the doghouse. But he's going to become a star CB this season. Groot goes off for 12 sacks, with improved playcalling and secondary play. Offense: Cook and Davis. Both go over 1k yards, led by improved OL play and Dorsey having all his doubters now fret him leaving for a HC role.

and with that overly simplistic mindset, Beane should have spent all this "potential dhop $" on improving RT, LG, and RG in FA. instead he upgraded our guards, and found supporting options. This is a better team already, on paper, than LY. It's not supporting Gabe vs Josh, it's understanding this isn't the last year of the NFL and Beane is wisely considering future salary cap impications/roster build.

Right, and that was 2020/2021 when Davis was developing. He's a capable Wr2, who got extra attention LY because of a perfect storm of poor OL play (Knox having to chip), no reliable slot option, and battling thru his high ankle sprain. We will soon see what Beane decides to do.

Glad Beane doesn't see it your way. We needed improved slot/middle of field targets, and better IOL play. Check and check, by how Beane attacked FA and draft. An aging Dhop isn't the answer, unless Diggs goes down. We have 1 all-pro WR, a lot of other weapons: Davis, Knox, Kincaid, Shakir, Harty, Cook/Harris, and just 1 football to go around. Beane built this right, the NFL salary cap isn't designed to pay 2 all-pro caliber players at WR...some teams struggle to pay 1. Way too many ppl hung up on what Cincy has, this is a child like envy behavior. Cincy soon won't have that luxury when those rookie deals expire.

So Davis goes back to being a rotational player, at best? That essentially goes against everything Beane has said and other players, about Davis. I'd be shocked if this happens

Exactly. Which makes no sense at this point. Basically relegates Davis to a glorified backup, and no chance of signing him long term (which would contradict what Beane has said). If we're looking to spend big $$$s still, it would be better used at a position of weakness, ie: possibly RT, improving pass rush

People keep saying WR3....what does that mean to you specifically? Because Davis isn't playing the slot, which means if we have our top 3 on the field that puts either Diggs or Dhop in the slot. Which to me, is a waste of resources. That's where Kincaid and Shakir will split reps. So basically Wr3 means backup/limited snaps, is that what you mean?

Horrible take on many fronts. Re: 2nd half of season offense: 1. Points: we avg 29.4 PPG (Chiefs as a comparison avg 28.1) 2. Yards: 379 3. Run game: we started to run the ball more, become more balanced and take pressure off Josh being a hero. 4. Josh: obviously his elbow injury had an effect on him, as he stated himself. The offensive gameplan was adjusted, see point #3 above. He also had some poor decision making games, ie: turnovers I wouldn't call the above "crappy and unimaginative", as you put it. That's just frustration speaking, and letting that blind you. Who would you suggest we should have hired as OC last year then? Dorsey was a known commodity in-house, highly respected by his coaches and players (past and present). Thats the definition of how you want to build and replace coaching staff departures. Top 5 offense, and you're speaking with emotion and throwing crazy predictions about not using Kincaid already....lets remember this come regular season

💯 DE is a luxury at this point. When we have three young, highly drafted players and a very high priced FA...fans need to grasp that's a premium investment. Yes, maybe whiffed on Aje and Boogie some, but they still have some potential and young. And we don't have the $$$s, as you said, to keep spending. Like you mentioned, we filled a potential "Von missed time" with some low cost moves. Not unheard for 3rd and 4th year players to make a significant leap forward at DE. On top of this, I have less concern bc I have faith Sean will be more aggressive with blitzing/simulated sugar A-gap looks/nickle blitzes. A healthy Tre and Hyde, allow us to bring more pressure/simulated looks. If they're both back to form, we are in good shape in general. Elam/Benford should take a step forward too, if one of them develops into a high-end starter then that's even more coverage flexibility (less need for high priced DEs)

Both sides of the ball played poorly against Cincy, it was definitely the worse performance of the season. That's been discussed ad nauseum, same with who was to blame, offense or defense. It was clearly bad on all fronts. Not sure I agree about the 27 points comment (assuming a win)...given the weather conditions, that can easily neutralize teams, which it totally worked against us..lack of running game/short passing game 2nd half of season. Bottom line is Frazier wasn't completely at fault, but to somehow assume Sean was OK with what was occurring on defense simply isn't true. His scheme, yes, but there's a reason he's taking over playcalling this season (which is an important point of discussion). As for 13 seconds, that's another topic beaten to death. When there's a pattern of failed execution on defense in the past few playoffs, which there clearly has been... That falls squarely on the Def coordinator/def staff/players. Hence Sean taking over playcalling and we will see if that rights the ship

Thansk for sharing, that's great information! My biggest concerns from 2021 and 2022 have been addressed, and hopefully pan out: 1. Interior OL 2. Def playcalling/style 3. Lack of middle field weapons/YAC guys 4. Def line And agree about our division, I think it will be weaker than much of the media is predicting. Similar to the Afc west last season. Spot on about Hyde and Tre. I'm also bullish on our young DEs taking a big step forward.

Not sure what is difficult for you to grasp: 1. 4 week scheduling notice: this is plenty of time for fans, players, coaches, team personell/etc to adjust, if a game is flexed. 2. Quality of games: no fan wants to watch a meaningless Thursday night game late in the season. Let me ask, if your options are in Week 14, to watch the following on Thursday primetime, which would you pick? Game 1: team A 3-10 VS Team B 5-8 OR Game 2: team C 8-5 VS Team D 9-4 To me it's obvious. I'm picking Game 2 all day. And it is about the $$$ and the fans, BOTH. It's something that is a win-win. Better quality games as a fan, more viewership ($$s, which is part of revenue sharing and impacts future cap ceiling), for the tradeoff of potentially having to reschedule a hotel, sell/buy tix, and/or change vacation schedule. Easy decision.

Seemed like a good man/leader, but I'm glad to see a change (regardless of how it went down). Hoping we see a more aggressive style/playcalling, not expecting anything schematically to change much. As many said, this has been McDermotts' scheme and philosophy. The devil is in the details with execution, and playcalling though. Improved playcalling has been what is lacking.... Best predictor of future success is past results, and Frazier has been dreadful in the playoffs (past few years summary): 1. Excellent: Pats 2021 2. Average: Ravens 2020, Miami 2022 3. Poor: KC 2020, Colts 2020, Houston 2019 4. Horrible: KC 2021 (13 seconds should have been the final straw), Bengals 2022 That Houston game should have been a W, in 2019...and that 2020 Colts game could have easily been another L. McDermott has a good scheme, it just needs to take it up a level in aggression and creativity, at key moments of games.

Your main point is spot on. When you have a star QB/high scoring team, you should unleash an aggressive defense. This is KC style, Dolphins, Eagles... I'm hopeful with Coach taking over the defense, he gets more multiple with his looks/scheme and more aggressive. At the same time, as a head coach you usually look to hire a coordinator (especially being defensive minded) who shares the same or very similar philosophies. Water under the bridge now, and not turning this into a Frazier thread, but i think alot of players could see a huge leap in production this year (Elam included).

Thats a good take and the most likely scenario. But I will mention that Beane/Coach are thinking long term about where Benford best fits. If they think that's safety, I'd still not be surprised to see them work on his conversion (ie: Cam Lewis LY, same as McLeod). And still find a way to keep 5 safeties, if need be. Personally, I think Benford would be best suited at Safety (long term), regardless of the signings we made. Our 7th rounder, Austin, is the exact type of physical/zone type corner that exceeds expectations (ie: Dane Jackson, Benford too) and would be a nice S/T guy immediately. Would put him in the mix to be the 4th outside corner. Speaking of Cam Lewis, I wouldn't right him off either. He gets a lot of flack for the Vikings game, but he is coming into year 2 of his transition to safety and could surprise. Bottom line, they have a lot of depth as mentioned, and the battles for the final CB/S spots will be fun to watch.