Brand J

I shed no tears for the Chiefs organization. If Simmons isn’t right mentally, I hope he gets all the help he needs away from football.

There was no “puncture,” Johnson was coming off a good season. He was the Bills best blocking RB and had some clutch catches to go with it. His own QB called him “the best 3rd down back in the league,” but I guess we’re to trust your opinion more? The guy sitting at home watching on his couch? Theres no question GMs make bad decisions all the time and for whatever reason, 104 players went before Skattebo, including seven RBs. Seven. Again, it doesn’t matter so much what they’ve done in college as it does what they’re projected to do in the pros. Numerous Heisman winners never amounted to anything, but Skattebo finished 5th so roll out the red carpet!

If it was obvious that Skattebo could do to grown men, professional athletes, what he had been doing to college kids, I guarantee he would’ve went before the 4th round. It wasn’t obvious, because it never is. Every player is a projection. Never mind QB or WR, there have been plenty of RB busts in the NFL. Obviously our own brain trust thought that Zach Moss would project well and was taken an entire round earlier than Skattebo. As I gather, the crux of your argument seems to be “we shouldn’t have put faith in Ty Johnson. We should have traded him for whatever we could get and selected Skattebo in the third.” (Or in the 4th rather than Deone Walker) The flaw in that logic is that Johnson was coming off a very good season, he was cheap and productive in his role. There was nothing that said a rookie could come in and give the Bills the same or better as a third down back. The position wasn’t a need, so Skattebo was never on the table.

I think if Hairston came in playing as well as Trey Amos or Will Johnson (CBs selected after him), there wouldn’t be this “one toe in” approach that we’re seeing out of the coaching staff. If they like the rookie enough, he’ll play over the vet.

I remember when some said Coleman was a better version of Gabe Davis. Man how fast time flies 😂

I thought you were smarter than “________ did this in college, it was obvious he’d do it in the NFL.” If what players did in college translated to what they’d do in the league, there’d be no busts. Skattebo - and a laundry list of other players - wouldn’t have lasted til later rounds, it’s all a projection, a gamble, a guess. As far as Ty Johnson, I don’t really care what journey he had prior to joining the Bills, I only know that after last season he had proven his worth, which translated to one of the better 3rd down backs in the league - rushing, catching, and blocking. If you want to be upset that Ray Davis might have gotten in the way of Cam Skattebo, then blame all the teams that turned down Beane’s trade up attempts for Cole Bishop. Had any of those teams agreed, Davis likely wouldn’t be with the Bills.

Trade one of the better third down backs in the league to gamble on an unknown RB in the 3rd? Yeah, no thanks. At the time all three backs were coming off a season where they had much more production than they do now - so much so that there was a large contingent of people on this board who would’ve rather seen James Cook walk than get an extension. We all see how well Cam Skattebo is playing now, but without magical glasses from the future, it was a guessing game. His impact could’ve been on the Zach Moss level, nobody knows. He was never an option for a team that had real holes and depth issues elsewhere.

Before the draft Johnson was thought of as one of the better third down backs in the league. Ray Davis was also very productive after his rookie year. You’re not taking a 4th (wildcard) RB in the top 3 rounds when you’ve got far more pressing issues elsewhere.

Didn’t he go in the top of the 4th? That would mean picking him in the 3rd when we already had Johnson and Davis backing Cook, which wouldn’t have happened. Trading up in the 4th would’ve meant more assets than it took to get Deone Walker and that also wasn’t happening. I would’ve loved Xavier Watts or that rangy New Orleans safety who picked off Josh, but that’s all hindsight. Skattebo was never a realistic option at any point.

There was definitely a play where his head slammed on the turf. I remember against Green Bay a few years ago something similar happened and he went on to have a terrible stretch of games. May be true.

But what do you do when he’s having an off game which includes missing open receivers? I get that if it was DK Metcalf he was throwing those 50/50 balls to and not Keon Coleman, the result might be different, but if he’s not reading the defense well and having a generally off night, there’s not much you can do with that (besides run the ball even more). He’s not being asked to be Superman, just run the offense. Hit the open guy when he’s open. I mentioned that Joe Marino said he has the tape to prove players are open and now I’m seeing stills circulating on social media showing the same. Stills don’t tell the whole story, I get that, but there’s one in particular where no one’s 8 yards within Shakir and Josh is seemingly looking his direction but doesn’t throw the ball. According to that poster the play ended in a sack. All of this is to say - everyone needs to play better, including Josh Allen.

Josh has to take accountability on his own for poor play and he does that. People keep throwing out the notion that “no one’s ever open” but Joe Marino said there were guys open throughout the game and he has the tape to show you to prove it. That’s not a Beane or McD issue, that’s a Josh Allen issue. Brady and Allen were the problem with the offense, if Allen was playing nearly flawless but constantly let down by others around him that would be another discussion.

If there’s a way to get robot refs on the field to replace human refs, I am 1000% for it.

None of you will convince me that “Edmunds was a better player than Bernard.” By what metric? He was certainly bigger and more athletic, but he didn’t exploit those attributes. He wasn’t physical. In one famous play, he had a full head of steam on a blitz and got stoned by a Patriots RB. I had never seen that before. All this talk about how he dissuaded QBs from throwing over the middle yet I have vivid memories of Edmunds standing there and chasing a completed pass within 5 yards of his zone. His awareness was putrid. If an OL got hands on him, it was over, he’d move backwards like he was on skates. In no universe was this gentle giant a better football player than Bernard. I’m not falling for that bull jive. Letting Edmunds go was the right move. The only question is was extending Bernard at 4/$50M the right move?

Bernard did in one season what took 5 years for Edmunds to do (in terms of making splash plays). I would not have wanted Edmunds back at Bernard’s cap number, he was not the answer. Maybe Bernard isn’t either, but at least you get the occasional splash play out of him. We need bigger LBs.

Sports Illustrated is running with a similar story too: https://www.si.com/nfl/former-nfl-qb-defends-patrick-mahomes-chiefs-on-controversial-td-play-vs-jaguars

I’ve been saying we need to bring in a passing game coordinator. Every receiver that comes into this Brady ball offense has become a lesser version of himself. Every one so far except Shakir. I’m not 100% confident his scheme would allow a true number one receiver to go off or become the focal point. He has a difficult enough time getting the ball to some of our playmakers as is.

Well, it’s certainly easy to understand how and why he was a training camp star. Between the DBs/LBs poor understanding of zone coverage, a guy like Keon can shine. He had the space. Put someone on him and it’s a struggle.

Beane got the most important position right and for that I am forever thankful, but I support moving on from him as well if we can promote someone who has a track record of being a fantastic scout (something Beane admits isn’t his background). I’m done with him getting antsy in drafts and moving up for mid players when he does better later anyway. After the season if it’s another failed SB appearance, I’d give McD an ultimatum: bring in a fresh defensive perspective/philosophy or you’re out as HC. Our personnel may not be top 100 players, but they’re also not as bad as they’ve looked. I was happy they finally went to man coverage in the second half, but the blown coverage to Bijan when Bosa was immediately in the backfield was another busted zone. Just man up, the back seven aren’t smart/instinctive/quick/fast enough to run an effective zone.

We like to complain that Beane’s lack of blue chippers have caught up to us. Walker looks like a home run pick, a blue chip player on the defensive side of the ball.

Hate to say it, but Allen’s floor is much lower than Mahomes.

Just throw that one OOB Josh. There was nothing there.

Josh has a mid season lull EVERY year.

OL and Allen having simultaneously their worst performance of the year.

Neither coordinator is ever ahead of his counterpart, especially Babich.