MasterStrategist

Parking/Shuttle: I parked at Sutherland, arrived at 8:15. Line was already fairly long, and we got on the 5th or 6th bus. Got to practice by approx 9am Autographs: same boat, my son was hoping too but it's extremely difficult. Ask about "mafia tix" when you bump into ppl working there, there is a special area behind the bleachers (these tix are randomly handed out, from what I was told). Otherwise, lining up along the fences is best chance, sometimes players will stop over (far sideline OR field behind bleachers). VIP area is closest, and best chsnce for autographs, as you said. Bills store: yes, they have 2 stores setup. One right as you enter and second one is along the end zone (right side). Hat options, I didn't look specifically but selection was just OK for everything else. Obviosily much better at 1 Bills Drive store (we actually stopped there on way home) Kids area: yes, they have several games/activities set up. Face paint/tattoo Station, and the Billy Buffalo meet opportunity is cool for kids. Get in line immediately when you arrive for that, best chance for a pic Have fun!

IF Damar is back to his old self, not sure why some ppl here think he won't make the team. He'd be our 4th safety. That's a big if, given everything that's occurred in the past 7-8 months. Mentally, you just never know with anyone. That's not a prediction or slight, just being honest with the situation. He was never known for his athletic prowess at Pitt, just instinctive/aggressive/always around the ball, and a great leader. That's a valuable player, as a 3rd-4th safety in the NFL, who is still young and ability to improve with more experience into a fringe starter.

Most likely landing spots: any team that isn't paying top-$ for a QB, or will be in the next 2-3 seasons. With QB salaries getting higher and higher (not just $s but % of salary cap), just makes sense that something has to give...right now, that's running back. To me, Colts are in a perfect position to pay a top-emd RB salary. Just like SF, Tennessee. With a rookie QB, they have that window of luxury per say. Richardson is a different breed of course, he doesn't need an elite RB but that team will be difficult to defend if they keep pieces together for a few years.

100% agree. Going into the offseason, this was my offensive focus to improve (in this order) 1. OL 2. Slot - finding a consistent "3rd" target for Josh 3. Redzone offense 4. Better playcalling/integrating all our weapons To your last sentence, I'd put Kincaid's success near top of list (just in terms of potential impact it could have). I think IOL and Spencer Brown were "tied" on my list, I just have faith he can take the next step, at least be a serviceable RT. We all knew Saffold and Bates, are what they are. Bates is a great backup type/OK starter, his versatility is his best asset. Picking up Shell was a good, break-glass move for this season. He's the equivalent to Bates, IMO, in terms of starter level quality play (but at RT). Otherwise, RT becomes 1st-2nd pick next year. I like what Beane did at OL, even if it means we need to have some "faith/hope" that Brown develops his game. Likewise at skill positions, we don't need Kincaid to be a game breaker but if he's a reliable 3rd option, that is perfect...it comes down to Dorsey finding ways to get mismatches week to week.

Ha, yes....good old cover 2. Re: Cam, I always thought he'd be a better nickle corner, than boundary or even safety. He lacks speed, but has enough quicks and aggression to be a capable guy there. Either way, that pass and catch was a thing of beauty. My 1st training camp in 8+ years, difficult to make the trip from Pittsburgh (season tix is enough). But some thoughts: 1. Gabe:looks alot quicker/lighter to me this year. He had some good 1-1s vs Tre. Out breaking and in-breaking routes, which we didn't get enough of LY 2. Shakir/Cook: talk about a 2nd offseason making a difference, both these guys look poised to make some noise. Both quicker, maybe less thinking, just overall more comfortable....especially James. I like Damien, but Cook looks ready to make a big step. Shakir has some good players behind him, in Harty and Sherfield, which might make for interesting rotation. All these WRs have positional flex, so it will make life tough for defenses to key in on any tendencies. 3. Kincaid: this guy understands "leverage"/positioning extremely well for a rookie. His play looked to support the hype, only 1 day, but he's got high potential in this offense. Going to be difficult for defenses to bracket/double him, with Diggs and others. He'll get his 1-1 matchups and Josh should be looking there alot. 4. OL/DL/LB: difficult to fully evaluate w/o pads, will be eager to read up on other takes once pads come on. 1 player to mention, Tim Settle, his quickness looks to have returned. That calf injury really held him back LY, imo. 5. PR/KR: Harty definitely looks explosive as a PR, Shakir can be in the mix too. Im less concerned about KR, given new rules. But wouldnt be suprised to see some rotation there as the season goes on, depending on gameday roster decisions. 6. Tre: maybe I was there for a bad day to evaluate him. But he still doesn't look to have regained that elite short area quickness/twitch. Hope I'm wrong. He still looked good, just not all-pro Tre White. 7. Cb2: competition for the starter makes for nice problem to have. Still not sure how Benford slid. I'm a Pitt guy, so I know Danes limitations as well as any. I can't see how he wins the CB2 role, but he's s great backup/luxury....gonna be a dogfight between Elam and Benford, both these guys just "stick" to the WRs better, Benford has more instinctive play/scrappy. 8. Von: nice to see him doing rehab on the side. 1-legged bag drills while catching medicine balls. Unreal how fast he's recovering 9. Coach: dressed head to toe in all black today...he must love that heat! Funny that I saw the local reporting, here in Steeler country, saying Tomlin did same today. Glutton for punishment 10. SJF: finally, I have to say how great the staff/setup is at SJF. All around great experience. Lots more fans than last time I could make it, 😀...but my 5 yr old son had a memorable time

Agree. With Diggs, you take the occasional bad with the good. Is he a "perfect" teammate? Definitely not. But he contributes alot more good, than bad. Not only his play, but he's voted as a captain for a reason and he demands/brings the level of play up of his teammates. These are the types of leaders we can afford, when you have balanced personalities also as leaders (and some less critical/emotional guys like Josh) and McD coaching. Every team needs some "fire", just finding the right balance. And this isn't directed at you, as I agreed with your comments and good place to put this. So much speculation and alot of wasted energy by fans/media. Month ago, it was everyone paranoid about Dorsey/playcalls, some posters insisting they had "sources" that Diggs' issue was Ken. Who knows for certain, and it doesn't matter if we do. Diggs handled today's presser nearly perfectly, IMO, and did his due diligence. Now time to move on.

Alot of people to keep quiet/tax records/etc. The NFL would come down hard on any team "cheating the cap", wouldn't surprise me if it included titles/season revoked, future drafts or cap room penalized, etc. Too many risks and we'd have the next Dan Snyder on our hands.

Simplistic way of looking at what was said/cherry picking words. McD was specifically asked if he had any concerns, and said he's concerned anytime "any player" misses practice. It was coach speak 101, I guess that went over your head.

Topic was Diggs explaining, answering questions about the situation. You took this to the level of placing blame on Coach, again why is it his fault you reacted the way you did?

Lol yes. Seeking drama when nothing is there. Sorry to categorize you, but not sure why you're still talking about something that's been a non-issue since the start. Heaven forbid Coach and Diggs have a disagreement and Coach voices concern. Start worrying when said player skips training camp, misses meaningful time. Forget when that happened here?

Who cares? You? Fans like yourself took this out of context. Even after Josh, Von, others answered questions after practice and told everyone it's not a big deal. Diggs saying the same thing...that ppl reading into it and making way too many assumptions/guesses at what's happening. Not sure why you feel the need to call out Coach...he can handle how he likes...he can't control what reaction you have nor should he. This has been a nothing burger since the beginning

Agree, but I think Beane envisioned using him more often (per his comments) and the resources used. It's not a big strike against Beane, just curious is all. I think Dorsey had too much on his plate finding ways to get all the playmakers involved, plus Josh' injury. Either way, I think Mims can be a useful RB and not nearly as dynamic in the return game but OK as a kick returner. Harty at PR, and/or Shakir.

Sucks for Hines. It was a curious trade at the time, knowing we wanted to get Cook involved more. Anyhow, this presents an opportunity for Jordan Mims (UDFA rookie). He's a comparable player to Hines, and we lost an undrafted back LY that contributed for Carolina. Obviously need another back for camp, but I see Mims having a path now.

I'm not certain on this. Lots of "rumors" tied us to him, of course, but there was some contentious moments with Jordan leaving Pitt in the portal to USC. Coach has a good relationship with Narduzzi, not saying Pat has a final say in our roster decisions, but Pat/Sean are wired very similar. All this could have meant nothing in our pre-draft evaluations, but there was some odd comments coming from local media (from Steeler camp not being interested, despite the local and Pickett connection). Shall see, hopefully we got the better player with Kincaid

Steelers know how to draft pass rushers and WRs. Some ppl here really liked Highsmith, who didn't think Epenesa would make it to round 2. Round 3 pick by Steelers, great value for them. If their drafted corners pan out this year, they could be a surprise team to challenge for a wildcard. I'm a big Beane fan, but it's his misses on DL (Oliver good player, but better were available/ Epenesa / Basham /FA ) that have held this team back from overtaking KC and Cincy past couple years.

Again, Dhop wasn't a FA until AFTER Beane made these roster decisions, that you are referencing. So how is this different than KC? And if Beane was so desperate to upgrade on Davis this offseason, it would have happened. You're so wrapped up in signing Dhop you're missing what our major flaws were the past few years. Dhop over Gabe is a sizeable upgrade on paper and fantasy football, but Dhop isn't winning those 4 games for us LY. Instead you want to use Gabes drops as a way to point the finger. I'm sorry Beane doesn't agree with your takes. I'm glad he hasn't. We needed better IOL play, slot/middle of field targets, and improved DL play/more physical defense. Those were head and shoulders bigger issues than Gabe. And that's what Beane has addressed. Everyone wants to replicate Cincys WR room/model. That's great if we hit on draft picks. But Beane has built a stable of weapons at Josh and Dorseys disposal this season. This has been debated by everyone too, I'm a believer we have a solid group that will create mismatches; along with improved OL for Josh and running game. Kincaid doesn't need to meet wild expectations either...your last sentence comes across as childish banter. I get it, you're frustrated or whatever, but it's the entire team that needs to play to their expectations (and stay healthy) to win us a SB. That's mainly been a defensive letdown in past playoff games, let me remind you.

No he didn't. That was Beas' role. I don't care ro argue about this, but Gabe never played in the slot (primary position). He may have aligned in a reduced split, or had some snaps as the "#2" (ie: outside wr is #1, next is 2, closest to center is #3) but that was never his thing. He's way too stiff/not fluid enough for that role. He's always been an outside, build up speed type of player.

Davis doesn't play the "slot", much at all. But oh well

You're really going out of your way on this: 1. Hines and Settle: didn't both these guys carry cap hits if cut? Do you recall the savings? Which players do we target to replace them, what would have been their cap hits VS these 2 players? 2. Poyer: very few thought we'd be able to resign him, then when we did, most thought his cap hits were good values. He and Hyde formed a top 5 safety tandem, and when Jordan missed games LY, we were a different defense. He's worth the value he brings, and leadership in the secondary. 3. KC: you can't give them the benefit of the doubt with MVS contract (dead cap), then not Buffalo. Beane made decisions on all players you mentioned, before Dhop became a FA. 4. Gabe: all games you mentioned were lost for several reasons, to pin it on a Gabe drop is just a vendetta. a. Miami: heat exhaustion, OL played on a torn ACL, etc. End of half and game clock mgt b. Jets: Josh worst game of season. Dline (as I mentioned) got ran over, Jaquan missed several key tackles that would ha e stopped drives, OL surrenders pressure all game/sacks on mostly 4 man rushes. c. Vikings: you really think Gabe cost us this game. This is definition of having a vendetta and focusing on 1 player. Our defense gave up several "game changing" plays, from Cam Lewis to poor tackling, and then the QB sneak that blew the game. You're being unrealistic/biased in your opinion. And who cares if we clinched the #1 seed LY, we were destined to be defeated by either Cincy or KC in the AFCCG, if we even got past Jacksonville. Our play in the trenches almost cost us Miami game in December and playoffs, not to mention the losses to Jets and Bengals (playoffs). We aren't winning a SB until we get better up front, which is why Beane has spent the resources he has to get better there. Now, go ahead and debate his choices, which haven't been great, but he's focused on the right area of need(s).

You could do this exercise for almost every NFL team, KC included. OR pick another player (similar to Dhop at OL, etc) and do the same drill. Bottom line, Beane likes his acquisitions and players we already had entering this season to build upon. He could have made that deal work if he truly wanted. Doesn't make it right or wrong yet, can see how this season unfolds and point to this if it indeed holds us back. But let's not pretend the #2 offense in the NFL was truly "in need" right now. We had room to improve, but we lost games when it counted because of defensive meltdowns, poor playcalling/schemes, and just lack of focus/poor execution. We've been outplayed in the trenches, past 3 playoff seasons. Josh bailed out the OL against the Chiefs in 2021, otherwise we've had the same consistent problems. Once again, I think it will come down to our OL giving Josh more time and our DL creating more pressure (or least not getting gashed in the run game).

Yes, I disagree with pinning your list on Dorsey. Here was your list: 1. Develop more consistent rushing attack 2. Not rely on Allen to bail him out 3. Decrease Allen's turnovers 4. Convert more 3rd and shorts 5. Play better in redzone Our lack of talent and inconsistent OL play doomed #1, and contributed to #5. Saffold, was extremely inconsistent and not very good when he was on. Bates is better suited as a backup, albeit he's a average guard/could start for teams with a better RT. Spencer Brown started the year horribly (back injury recovery), finished better but often needed "help" in pass pro. Allen's injury didn't help, but Josh also made some poor decisions (especially in redzone), leading the league in turnovers inside the 20. #4 (3rd and short), here are some stats contradicting your statement: 1. 59% conversion rate in 2021 vs 69% in 2022 (3rd and less than 3). Chiefs, for comparison, 52% in 2022 For #5 (redzone): 1. Mentioned Josh poor decision making above 2. Stats: we went from #1 in 2021 to #9 in thr NFL for 2022. Partly Josh, partly inconsistent OL, and partly lack of consistent alot WR (McKenzie was horrible and a trick player at best in redzone). 3. Dorsey could get more creative, as Dabs had that going for him. But I think other issues, stated above, contributed more Bottom line, I'm a strong believer that our OL and poor slot play led to most of our offense inconsistent games. If we're mentioning Dorsey improving, I think Josh can be used in the same sentence (decision making). I think all of the above will be better in 2023. As for Howard LY, he was a name-only/shell of former self. His Achilles injury derailed his career. Regarding use of Kincaid/Knox together, that will be easy.. I expect Dalton will be moved around and less in-line (ie: primarily slot). Bigger question is when Knox comes off the field, do they move Dalton in-line (Knoxs role) OR does Quentin come on the field? I expect the latter, and they don't put too much on Daltons plate immediately

I disagree with Cowherd on this one. I feel like he was being kind at times during the interview, this being one of the topics. Ie: he isn't going to have one of our top linemen on the show, then diss the run game. Look no further than the Giants: 1. Comparable offensive philosophies/coaching. Running QB, albeit Jones is a poor man's Allen 2. Biggest differences: Giants have an elite RB and better OL for the run game. It's pretty simple, elite RB/solid OL OR solid RB/elite OL can produce a consistent run game. I'd put KC in the 2nd bucket, teams like SF and Philly have close to both, Tennessee the 1st option. Dion clearly stated the trenches is where these tough matchups are decided. McGovern/Torrence/Edwards hopefully propel us into above average/notch below elite. I think we have the best "group" (OL and Rbs) this season, out of the past few. Everyone has an opinion if it's enough. Personally, I could see us being more consistent, and enough to fix our redzone issues from LY.

Cool, so all the same complaints we had with Daboll (fans have selective memory about). Dorsey had less talent at Wr and OL, also a less than 100% QB for a good part of the 2nd half of season. Obviously Josh is awesome, but that doesn't discount that Dorsey did more in Year 1 (with less talent), than Dabs did previously and fans are now enamored with. Josh was a turnover machine in the redzone, led the NFL. That's partially playcalling, but mostly Josh decision making and lack of execution. Also tough to have a consistent run game with our OL the past few years.

Fair points. I tend to see the "positives"/potential, but do agree it's all on paper right now. With 100% confidence, I like: Kincaid, Harty,Shakir, Sherfield >>> McKenzie, Crowder, Kumerow, etc. My main focus of seeing potential improvement is: 1. IOL 2. 1 inconsistent player (McKenzie) is no longer with us, and if just 1 guy (or multiple) of those named above can be a consistent slot option, I see us having many more mismatches. 3. Better run game That, plus I'm very hopeful that Dorsey makes the necessary adjustments and our 2nd year guys make a step. We do have an offense that can be more multiple, yes counting on Kincaid for that to happen. But if he pans out even to modest projections, defenses will need to make some difficult choices (formationally and scheme). As far as WR2 being a "marker" of success, I haven't looked into it but makes sense and trust your statement. However, I'd also say that recent SB teams have also had another key trait: solid OL play. Case in point, we saw a Chiefs team limp into that TB superbowl (with a superior #1 and #2 WR) and get beat. Just making the point that we had several weaknesses to address this offseason and Beane appears to have taken a different vision than some fans wanted. Not saying he's right, because everything is on paper like you said as of now. But I can see their Plan (and same weaknesses were glaring at end of LY), and now it comes down to players/coaches hitting their potential. And JMO, but JuJu never scared opponents and was a product of their system. He actually was phased out over the past 5 games leading up to the SB (10 catches 120 yards, over that 5 game span). @Zerovoltz i havent followed his discussion, but from what I've read before he's also an educated fan/clued in. Seems to me that KC was spreading the ball around quite a bit, and likely a similar situation coming up this season

Personally, I think the Bills look at things in a different way. Instead of being like the teams of Cincy, KC, etc where the top 2-3 options dominate targets; the Bills are looking to be more diverse/complimentary style offense. We might legit have 5-6 players eclipse 500+ yards this season. Last year, KC had 4 (a RB being #4, McKinnon at 512 yards). Diggs, then spread the ball to our best mismatch has been what has been the strategy in building our WR/TE/RB room. On any given play, we have 3-4 legit options that Josh can get to with his progressions. Improved IOL play will help with him getting to those mismatches too. Diggs, Davis, Knox are all likely locks for 500+. Then I could easily see Kincaid, Harty, Shakir get that too. Throw in Sherfield, and the pass catching ability of our backfield in Cook, Hines, and Harris; and this offense doesn't need a true #2. That's been my point all offseason. We finally have slot options, more speed, better IOL play for Josh. Davis' targets from LY should in theory decrease. He still might finish #2 in targets, but not by the margin of LY. Kincaid, Harty, Shakir, etc will be what Dorsey had a vision with LY (and much better than McKenzie, Crowder, rookie Shakir).....Dorsey improving as a playcaller is a must, but also likely.