In Summary

Better O-line = More time to let downfield patterns to develop = More Diggs catches (?)

Ouch!

"......because sooner or later some defender is going to put his helmet on my knee when I leap over them. That and knowing that it's OK to throw the shorter 9-yard completion on 3rd and 8 is OK too. Lastly, I have to add that I'm not going to spend my career running around making out-of-structure plays as I escape a pass rush because the coach and GM undervalue OL and some of the guys we have can't sustain a 2 second block. "

Fair point! Still hoping for a better OL with less total reliance on Josh improvisation and greater usage of Knox/Brown. Call me selfish.

...and thereby reinforcing the practice such that a meaningful change to a more O-line dominant offense becomes psychologically difficult. Fans accept this because Josh makes exciting improvisational out-of-structure plays rather than boring and incremental in-structure plays that have worked for Brady and Mahomes. The Bills seem to know exactly who they are on defense and aren't afraid to commit resources there. The offensive identify on the other hand, is less well-defined. Even when we pay Knox and draft Cook, we don't really use them. There isn't the commensurate increase in production - especially short passing yardage and RAC. Would more free-agent money change this? I'm looking for Dorsey to make strides in year 2. Same time, Beane and McDermott can't make OL an afterthought.

If you've filled every obvious hole prior to the draft, you can claim you went BPA even if you cheated a few spots on your own board. We'll never know.

Allen busy transferring all assets to his mother's name before getting married.

James "Bubby" Robert Braxton

Agree with you on Bills preferring speed/movement over size. I don't like it though when the LB's are small and the other three D-linemen are prone to being moved.

Jumped on the bandwagon and went with the DT. Wanted the receiver but it's not obvious that Tillman will get separation in the NFL. Is he mostly a big body that has to box out defenders and grab contested balls? How different is he from Gave Davis?

Let me know when the cost is double the original estimate. Otherwise, nothing surprising.

Do you think the Bills like him? I don't have the prospect knowledge of you or others, but I generally wondered who was the biggest WR prospect capable of getting separation in the NFL?

Of the three, Brown is the one that I think can improve over what we've seen. Understand too, that Beane will say he believes in all of our current players so as not to tip anyone off on his draft intentions. Who knows, maybe he secretly has voodoo dolls of all three that he sticks pins into daily?

Re OP: WR#2 Bills don't use a TE enough to spend significant assets on a second TE regardless of the draft value rankings. No clear answer if Diggs goes down for a few games. (Concern for this year) No potential replacement for Diggs in the pipeline. (Concern for the future)

I hope they lose money on this product. Sellouts. There is no middle ground here.

Jim Kelly had a better O line than Allen. RB won't do it.

Cut cable some years back. I occasionally see ESPN and I never feel smarter or more informed for having watched it. Sure, I get nuggets about who Tweeted what and who reacted and who's overrated and who said the wrong thing and should be cancelled, but it's not useful. Often, it's just loud bombast. The world of streaming and podcasts has made ESPN unneeded.

Agree

The Bills deserve a dominant inside OL player. That player is still not on the team.

Yes. Not just his backup, but also his successor.

Good article. This sticks with me, "This is the team’s most important draft since ’18." Have to agree. To me, what has to change is this: Allen only has so much mental processing and athletic movement he can do on a given play. Consider this his "play capacity". When the Bill don't give him a line where he can calm down, set his feet, and throw on rhythm, the majority of his play capacity is used on evasion and improvising. I think the Bills waste his play capacity on him escaping and improvising instead of giving him a line where his capacity is used properly to execute plays and make the best decisions. Daboll ran Josh into traffic to build his career and Beane cheaped out on the OL to give McDermott his 8 starting D linemen. Both are Allen abuse.

I think the 1-tech is arguably more important that the 3 for the type of off-the-ball coverage type LBs McDermott prefers. When opposing guards get their hands on our LB's it's not a good matchup. I look at Jones and see someone who doesn't get redirected easily, foils plans, and does at least average at owning his interior gaps. The 1-techs who can push a guy back contribute to the pass rush in their own less-flashy way. Maybe I'm just a relic and like boring things but hearing about the endless slew of marginal 3-tech prospects with two NCAA level pass rush moves that "could play 1 tech if needed" doesn't excite me. Bills in a much better position this year than last when they had no answer at 1-tech, but I'd like to see them draft a young Jones clone this year or next. (Jones was a 4th round pick)

Agree. Feels like another short-term fix to avoid having to draft successfully. I don't care to spend draft picks on trades when they should be used to affordably play young players for 4-5 years. Is he the next James Lofton who came to Buffalo at ~33 years of age?

Yes. I don’t fully get why either. Obsession with D line, ghosts of Zay Jones, ??. Hopefully WR and OL are now on his DRAFT radar in a serios way.

Handing out draft picks like Halloween candy is a no-go.