Beck Water

I could be mistaken, but I don’t think they keep a player in “concussion protocol” for “precautionary reasons”. I think if he could progress, he would. I agree with the others who say he seems like a good person and (outside of being a Dolphin) I wish him the best.

Normally I would walk away, understanding that we simply are looking at this from different POV and we're never going to agree. But there are some factual things here that might affect understanding other issues. The minute a drafted player gets cut and placed on practice squad, his rookie deal goes away, Poof! So Hodgins was and is NOT on the rookie deal you expect from a player drafted in 2020. Now - when the Bills signed Hodgins to the active roster October 8 after Crowder broke his leg, they in fact did offer him more than the typical 1 year contract, specifically a 2 year contract (meaning 1 more year, not two more years). showing that they still liked him and wanted to keep him. Kumerow, while a vet and earning more, has been on a VSB contract (veteral salary benefit), meaning he pretty much counts the same as Hodgins against the cap. Kumerow's first 2 years in the league for GB, he caught 20 passes for 322 yds on 464 snaps (in 36-37% of the snaps). Hodgins with the G-men caught 33 passes for 351 yds on 417 snaps (78% of the snaps)

Just noticed this. Tua is STILL in concussion protocol as of January 26, and is not expected to participate in the Pro Bowl. That guy should really take his $25M guaranteed and go sit on a beach somewhere, before he ends up like Kolb with permanent disabilities (if he isn't already there)

I would just like to point out ....they prioritized a starter/key contributor on ST over the #5 WR on offense, because that would have been Hodgins role here. As a basis for fact, in the 2 early season games where Kumerow saw substantial snaps, he had 4 receptions on 5 targets for 64 yds + ST In the same time window, Hodgins saw 4 receptions on 6 targets for 41 yds. That's the comparator the Bills brain trust was looking at when they released Hodgins, not "offered nothing" Again, I like Hodgins, I'm sure the Bills would prefer to have kept him, but Hodgins was playing 78% of the snaps for the Giants. He would not have been playing that many snaps for the Bills, unless you swap him out for Gabe Davis.

I actually think that moving Oliver might be something we look at, but I agree with you - he would either be moved for a draft pick or, in the kind of swap that brought Jerry Hughes here and sent Kelvin Sheppard to the Colts - swap players who show flashes but didn't quite live up to the needs of their drafting teams, and see if they're a better fit in another scheme under different coaching. Agreed on all points.

I think it shows the difference between athleticism during tests, vs. playing speed. He seems to have very slow feet, and/or slow mental reactions. Speed rushers treat him like he's standing still. I think he looked better next to Williams than he did next to Bates. I'm not sure where the problem is but pass-offs seem slow.

Correct me if I'm mistaken, but isn't one of the criticisms of Brown, that he doesn't get enough knee bend? So moving him to guard, which would require more knee bend, would seem like a disaster. When Beane was talking about Brown in his presser (how he had to get surgery and missed the off season and he is still developing) I was having awful flashbacks to the "wrong road" of Cody Ford and how Beane talked about him.

I do wish we had a "face palm" reaction emoji. We have two good OL - Dawkins and Morse. So of course, your plan calls for cutting one and moving the other. 1) If KC can't re-sign Orlando Brown, the only reason is going to be because they can't meet his salary demands. But the only reason Brown is in KC in the first place is because he wanted to play LT and the Ravens didn't want to accomodate that. So this plan would involve relocating Dawkins to RT, where he hasn't played. Nice start. 2) Why don't we trade Ed Oliver for a top WR like DeAndre Hopkins while we're at it? Again, if someone is trading an all-pro guard, the reason is because that player is (like Ed) on the last year of his contract and the team either a) thinks he's falling off and no longer worth his salt or b) knows it can't meet his contract demands and wants something. But usually, teams don't trade all-pro guards. 3) "Hope" is not a sound player development strategy, especially for C, the most important position on the OL. I'm 100% in favor of drafting the best C/G we can find, but you don't move on from Morse until you know you have someone who can do the job behind him. Beane needs to find his cap savings somewhere else than our OL. Here I have that concern about coaching. Kromer was hailed as a big name hire by McDermott last season, but I'm not sure we got what we wanted there. I do think we need a significant upgrade in personnel. Even if we grant Brown a "pass" as still developing/hampered in his off season by injury, I think we need to have a better "plan B" at RT than Quessenberry, and I think Bates and Boettger are solid depth. We need what we hoped we were getting from Saffold.

The LAST thing the Bills FO and coaches should be worrying about right now is "pacifying the fans" They're essentially conducting an accident investigation. There's likely to be "plenty of blame to go around", but they need to try to sort out the causal from the ancillary factors. Then they need to decide which can be changed by keeping the same personnel but changing their approach, and which require new people. I think the frustrated fans would like to see the Pegulas "burn it down" and bring in new people, but that's not a necessarily a proven strategy to go from "good to great". Sometimes it works - an example might be Doug Pederson exiting the playoffs with Div and WC wins after their SB. After the next year, the Eagles brought in Sirianni, returned to the playoffs, and are going to the NFC championship game. Or, the Vikings, replacing Zimmer with O'Connell after two years of losing seasons and at least returning to the playoffs - even if they did get whupped in the WC round. But other times it's a disaster, like Denver deciding to move on from Kubiak when their SB run was followed by a disappointing 9-7 season - only to cycle through 3 different HC and 6 losing seasons since then. Or the Chicago Bears, who moved on from Lovie Smith after a Conference Championship loss was followed by an 8-8 and 10-6 season, both without playoffs. 10 seasons since then, 4 head coaches, only 1 winning season, 2 WC losses. Note, I am not arguing here for or against keeping our FO and coaches. I'm arguing against change for the sake of change, or to "pacify the fans".

Part of it is I think a shift in who Erik has breaking down film with him. They used to be almost exclusively former players in HS and college whose knowledge of scheme and plays went bone deep, now it's more journalism interns and stats guys. And he's monetized, meaning he depends upon number of clicks and views to keep them and pay his guys. Right now coverage that blames players would go over like the proverbial "Led Zeppelin" with their viewers. JMO of course. And thank you for the breakdowns.

Just a little comment that you need to take Cover1 with a grain of salt. I truly value them - I don't subscribe but I watch their stuff and find value. You're absolutely correct that they try to be fact-based and don't suffer from vitriol. But they're mistaken sometimes. A lot of the Cover1 guys, including Erik, are essentially what some of the members are here - guys who played football in HS, sometimes college, whose goal is to share their X's and O's knowledge with the fans. Recently he has been bringing in guys who have journalist backgrounds vs. former players, meaning they're what even more of the members are here, passionate fans who are self-taught about X's and O's. At core, they're very knowledgeable fans who put effort and time into their avocation, but not professionals or true experts. They're always worth watching and listening to IMO, but sometimes they're right, sometimes they're "homer", and sometimes they follow a narrative (as all these podcast/youtube guys who depend on clicks and follows to keep sponsors and make money must do). And, as noted above, sometimes they're mistaken. As far as safeties, Micah Hyde is under contract and medically cleared. I personally think Damar will be back. McDermott mentioned that converting Christian Benford from DB to safety is a consideration. I think we'll find safeties.

I'm glad you're not Terry. Seriously. Arians philosophically is like the opposite of what the Bills need for Josh Allen. Google search and read up on some of the stuff that was discussed when Brady joined the Bucs, and how Brady had to get Arians to change his offense.

I hope not. Not because I believe that in hindsight, given a do-over, they wouldn't prefer to have kept Hodgins than to elevate Tanner Gentry for Week 11 and 12 and bring John Brown off his sofa to the practice squad. I'm sure they would. But the only point of evaluating past decisions is to see if you should have made a different decision given the information you had at the time. And I understand the logic of the Bills player prioritization, given the information they had at the time. Kicking yourself serves no purpose.

I would call it "The Fiasco"

https://buffalonews.com/sports/bills/back-surgery-not-ankle-injuries-responsible-for-bills-receiver-jake-kumerows-shortened-season/article_181816c8-9cdd-11ed-bc17-0f9fac7f9425.html#tncms-source=login

You have to be sure you're searching "this board" and not "this thread". If you're viewing a thread when you search, the default is to search the thread you're viewing.

That is a very good question. Beane's comment about not wanting to suck badly enough to draft Chase made me quite annoyed. Ty Dunne summarized it well: I think it's always a mistake to prescribe positions you want to draft. And an NT drafted in Round 4 is not likely to bolster the LOS over DaQuan Jones. It's your underlying question about the philosophy that is on the money. Since McDermott has been here, the overall draft picks and FA signings are roughly equal between O and D. But when you look at the top 2 rounds and the FA resources year by year, No

?? Starting OL last season: Dawkins-Feliciano-Morse-Williams-Brown Dawkins-Boettger-Morse-Williams-Brown Dawkins-Bates-Morse-Williams-Brown We moved on from Williams, added Saffold, and moved Bates from LG to RG This season Dawkins-Saffold-Morse-Bates-Brown Effectively different at 2/5 positions We started the season with a run blocking scheme I don't think we could actually run effectively Saffold IMHO was a pass blocking disaster at LG. A mauler in the run game at times, but I think Dawkins worked better with Bates next to him.

I have wondered the same thing, but about Dorsey. Especially toss in that Mike Shula was Dorsey's boss in Carolina, the OC while Dorsey was QB coach. I can't imagine a scenario where it would be comfortable to step up to a new lead role with my former boss of 5 years sitting at the side of the table. IF Dorsey had a clear vision for the offense, did it suffer from having too many people with their fingers in the pot. Were Dorsey's efforts diluted by having to align 4 or more viewpoints before he could move forward?

Question: is there any commentator out there who does not think this?

New word is that Chargers have requested to interview him

Von played Edge/DE. He was listed as a LB so that he could have the number he wanted.

Just a note that Oliver is not a 1 tech and has only been asked by the Bills to be a 1T on a rotational basis, when Lotulelei opted out in 2020 and Harrison Phillips/Vernon Butler weren't getting it done and the story was "play 1TDT for a few snaps and we'll reward you with some 3TDT snaps" Oliver has a big cap hit and is on the last year of his deal, but here's the thing - one almost always has to overpay for FA, and I don't see it as a great thing to trade Oliver and then leave a gap we need to fill with a higher draft pick or by overpaying a FA. The reason I feel that way is that I believe we're way past due to start putting some Draft Pick Respect and FA investment in the offensive skill players and the OL. Now if someone would offer to trade us a WR like AJ Brown for Ed Oliver and a draft pick, I put a bow around Oliver and send him off. I think Ed Oliver is very physically talented. I don't think he came into the league believing he needed to learn and listen, and I think his motivation is kind of spotty. He really wants to spend his life 4-wheeling and riding horses and doing other Texas Country Boy stuff.

How about BOTH! Football AND Housewives! "The Housewives are on the Field! The Housewives are on the Field!" This has been discussed many times. I don't think you can actually find too many plays this past season where there wasn't at least one open target underneath. You acknowledge this yourself - "this team all year hasn't taken what the defense has gave them and has continuously just tried for the big play" means there are in fact targets "the defense is giving them" underneath. BUT Gabe Davis and Isaiah McKenzie just were not good enough this year to be our #2 and #3. And I like them both, but right now there is a significant talent gap between our #2 and #3 target guys, and the Bengals or the KC (yes, KC) #2 or Eagles #2 and #3 and I think you could make an argument for SF, though their offense is built differently enough. Sometimes the receivers get separation, but it's later than it needs to be to work for the protection - even when the protection gives Josh some time. Yeah, I think we need a WR upgrade. I think we had better WR in 2021 with Sanders and a fading Beasley. Maybe the upgrade comes from Davis taking a step in his 4th season and Shakir taking a big step between year 1 and 2, but I'd rather not 100% count on that, and if they do, having 4 top WR would not be a horrible thing.