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Thoughts on McDermott, Beane after the 2018 Season


billsgpr88

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13 hours ago, billsfan1959 said:

If you took away every post of his that was some variation of "this team sucks, the FO sucks, the coaching staff sucks, the organization sucks, or (fill in the blank) sucks," he would probably have a post count of 2....

A cursory look and I can't find either one of those posts!

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Both Beane and McDermott are young first timers so you have to allow them to make mistakes on the job.  I do agree that winning is a process not a final score, so I'm really happy with the true culture change taking place.

It's what keeps the Patriots contending year after year and now we have our own version.

 

I do think McDermott's too enamoured with his "process" that wouldn't let go of Peterman, Beane screwed up the backup QB situation massively, arguably cut too much talent from the roster and they're both about to make a mistake about Shady's 2019 effectiveness, though we can work around that.

So long as they learn from mistakes and keep improving the team I think they easily get two more years. 

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Allen was hurt for part of the year and our offense was a different animal with him, especially after returning from injury. He’s a project player that’s shown he can play, just needs more time and continuity. 

 

Do people expect every player they bring in to be a HOFer? I don’t understand. No GM/Coach is perfect. Even the best miss on first round picks and free agent acquisitions.

 

They’ve made some mistakes but what did people expect our record to be this year with youth everywhere and Wood and Incognito randomly deciding to leave. With those guys third year, our record could’ve been a lot different. Patience. I believe if we didn’t have the drought and we were in the same scenario, fewer fans would be pounding the table for them to be fired. It’s time to turn to continuity instead of hitting the eject button too soon. 

 

The duo earned more time after taking a less than talented group to the playoffs last year. 

Exciting offseason for us coming up, big strides can be made in year 2 with Josh Allen playing QB. 

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If Allen doesnt play hero ball the results and mindset are different.

 

They won and were in games because of Allen not because of the head coach was good at his job. If Allen doesnt do what he did the Bills might have only won 3 games this year. 

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On 12/31/2018 at 3:28 PM, Hapless Bills Fan said:

I have concerns about them both as you cite.  (the Benjamin trade was last year.  this year was bringing in Vontae Davis and Corey Coleman)

 

While the moves didn't work out, consider the risk/benefit on a team that was strapped for WR talent and cap space:

 

Benjamin was a former 1st round pick that had 1000 yds in his rookie season and then nearly a 1000 yds after coming back from an an ACL tear.  At the time they traded a 3rd and 7th they thought they were getting a possession receiver with a big catch radius who had a proven track record in the league and whom they were familiar with.  You could argue whether a team in a rebuild should spend the draft capital on him, which is a legitimate argument, but had he lived up to those two aforementioned seasons a 3rd and 7th would have been worth it and they likely would have extended him moving forward.  I don't remember anybody thinking things were going to turn out the way they did this season when we first acquired him.

 

Vontae Davis was a former 1st round pick who had previously played at a Pro Bowl level, though had fallen off the season prior to his groin injury/surgery.  Considering what was available and at what cost at CB, it was a one year $5M gamble on a vet with something to prove.

 

At one time Corey Coleman was a 1st round talent (at least in the Browns eyes) that the WR starved Bills "tried out" for a 7th in 2020 and had the good sense to cut ties with when it became apparent that there was a good reason the Browns soured on him.

 

While none of the moves worked out, they were all low risk/high reward at positions of need and none of the contracts/costs impacted the cap for next year.  That MO of filling spots with low risk/high reward players without impacting seasons beyond 2018 has been a common thread for most players that Beane traded for/signed outside of Murphy, Star, and other pieces he presumably sees as part of the core.  He also managed to get the Browns to eat all of TT's contract for the first pick in the 3rd round...

 

Unlike Whaley, whom I didn't dislike but whom I agree with many was too frivolous with the future of the team with respect to draft picks and bad contracts, McD and Beane give me the impression that they have positions and players that they give priority to but to whom they assign an absolute value and are therefore not likely to over-extend themselves on because of their eye on the present AND the future.  I suspect that's why they were stuck with AJM as their short term solution at QB in the second day of FA, because they weren't willing to overpay for questionable value (a-hem, I'm looking at you Minnesota and Denver).  If they actually thought this team could contend for something this year I suspect this might have looked a bit different.

 

This brings me to the one thing that actually does worry me above all else about them this past season, which is the way they handled the QB situation.  I want to give them the benefit of the doubt as I said above, but it's the QB position for ****'s sake.  I don't blame them for getting what they could for AJM... how can you justify keeping a vet who was the worst player on the field for three quarters of the last preseason game when someone is actually stupid enough (a-hem, I'm looking at you Chucky) to give you a draft pick for him.  What I do blame them for is waiting until October to address the backup QB spot when 1) there was all of 3 regular season games of experience in the QB room, none of which was good experience, and 2) NP had obviously finally, after working ridiculously hard to do so, completely lost their trust in him in the first half of the first game of the year.  Allen has looked like a completely different player since getting some veteran guidance to lean on.  This was no small shortsightedness IMO, and was pretty damning.

 

At the close of the 2018 season I am hopeful that Allen will be THE man, and that Edmunds will be the man on D.  I think there is a lot to like about the way McD either gets maximum effort out of his players or he gets them out of the locker room, and I think he overachieved both this year and last with the talent at hand, regardless of whether or not one argues that the talent shortage was in part his and Beane's own doing.  I think Beane has taken some calculated risks that didn't pan out, but that ultimately didn't hurt the 2019 season and beyond. I also think he's made some core acquisitions that I am reserving judgement on and waiting to see what they look like when he's not trying to piece together the rest of the roster around what turned out to be $70M in dead cap space by the end of the season.  I think from a draft perspective, we've seen more contribution from the last 2 draft classes than we have in a while, and that needs to continue. 

 

I think the ~easy~ (but necessary) part of this rebuild is done.  The house is down to the studs, they've had their time to see inside the walls, clean out the rot, determine what is salvageable, and start to acquire some of the building materials.  The cap is set, the roster has been purged of players with bloated contracts and questionable effort, and they have their QB and MLB in place.  They have the money and the draft capital.  No more excuses.  There are now expectations to win, and now is when we'll find out if McD and Beane are the right ones to see it through.  It has to be all on an upward trend from here.  The stupid/sloppy drive killing penalties have to disappear.  The stretches of games where the wheels come off and teams run all over us have to disappear.  McD has to figure out how to challenge a play without looking like a total amateur.  Beane has to start to show he can build a team in a way that allows for inevitable roster turnover while holding on to key guys in their prime and planning for the departure of key guys passing their prime without jacking up the cap again. The talent level on the team has to be noticeably improved next year, especially on the OL, at TE, and WR.

 

In my mind they need to at least be 9-7 or 10-6  next season and make the playoffs, significant injuries notwithstanding.  I don't see them being able to turn over the OL and WR corps to completion in 2019 given what's available in FA, and if they draft players I don't see them reaching their full impact in 2019 (at least I hope they wouldn't).  Two years from now, at the least, they need to be poised to take the AFCE. 

 

If Allen doesn't get injured this year, his WR's looked more like WR's and less like basketball backboards for the first 3/4 of the season, and Clay doesn't run to the back of the endzone like it's a freaking Techmo Bowl play when they only needed 10 yards and a first down in the first Miami game they could have easily been 8-8, so this isn't asking a lot, IMO.  I'm expecting the team to take a big step forward next year, and I'm reasonably confident that McD and Beane are the right ones to get them to do it.

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On 12/31/2018 at 8:06 AM, PearlHowardman said:

 

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha......

 

8-8 forever!

 

:doh:

 

Forever? Is that really you're perspective?

 

Even if you don't like the current regime are you making a blanket assumption that you will think the same of the next group(s)? Hand to forehead indeed. 

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On 12/30/2018 at 7:52 PM, BuffaloBill said:

.There is no McBeane the use of the word is misleading.

 

On 12/31/2018 at 8:33 AM, Limeaid said:

You made spelling mistake   There is no McBeane, the use of the word is stupid.

 

I don't think the use of McBeane is misleading or stupid. Just the opposite actually.

 

People like myself see them as a package deal. I don't think it's a coincidence that the Pegulas hired them off the same team. IMO, McBeane is a clever way of acknowledging this. 

 

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I'm with Hucklebuck. Some big mistakes have been made along with some prudent moves. Somehow, those they have are buying in and next year is "fully pregnant." Any more steps backward would be cause for a serious alarm and potential dismissal. We understood this was the slingshot year, where we had to be pulled backward to be propelled further forward.  If we go any farther back the band breaks. It's time to move full speed ahead and see nothing but progress.  

 

I expect 10-6 with the playoffs and division in sight. I see the Patriots taking a step back and Brady on his last legs and a coaching exodus. If Hoody checks out too, it's all over for NE. The Dolphins are falling back and the Jets should improve. Depending on the Jets coaching situation, FA and drafting at #3, they could make some serious leaps next year. 

 

 

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You can't blame Beane for the Benjamin deal.  In the 8 games in Carolina prior to being acquired, Benjamin was on track for potentially 1000 yards and had a catch % of 62.7.

 

In 2018, his catch % dropped to 37.1, which ranked him 119th out of all the receivers with at least 43 targets.

 

Yes, 119th.  I didn't even know there were that many receivers with at least 43 targets in the league.  But Benjamin finished 119 out of 121.

 

He just checked out.  Tough to blame Beane for that one.

 

 

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My take is that McDermott made some rookie mistakes that he did not repeat in year 2. Let's see how he does with more talent in year 3. It will be a challenge with so many new faces coming in. I still like him, his attitude and his willingness to take the heat for this season in cap hell.

 

To me, Beane is the one that is more on the hot seat. Allen and Edmunds were spotty this year. Granted they are both rookies and did have their moments, but several LB's outperformed Edmunds in their rookie years and Allen's accuracy problems haven't gone away. I just hope those 2 guys can straighten out their game in year 2.

 

This offseason will again be huge for Beane. I pray he is up to the task. A down year for several FA's and a weak draft class could be his undoing. He needs to rebound a bit.

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On ‎1‎/‎1‎/‎2019 at 4:12 AM, Bills Pimpin' said:

Most people in this thread are a complete joke. Here are the facts:

 

Nationally starting to be recognized as one of the best coach/GM combos in the league. 

Took one of the worst cap situations and turned it into arguably the best situations in 2 seasons by trading away "talent" that has not produced since the day they left. 

Won 6 and were competitive in all but 4 games with $50 million in cap space and starting rookies, UDFA, and second year players at over 1/2 of the 22 starting positions.

First playoff birth in 17 years and one of the most memorable days in the history of the Buffalo Bills the day they clinched as a first year HC/GM.

Drafted the most exciting QB and player the franchise has had in 25 years and maybe ever, and by all accounts, has outperformed what was expected.

Drafted a 20 year old middle linebacker that looks, by all accounts, like a superstar and someone that can lead this defense for a decade.

Orchestrated one of the best retirement days of a loved player, certain to be on the WOF.

 

And that's just a portion of it, doesn't include the hiring of Daboll, Frazier, the 2nd ranked defense in 2018, Tre White, Matt Milano, Taron Johnson. 

 

7 head coaches were fired the last 2 days, plus McCarthy. Many of them will get another HC job. You want any of those retreads? 

 

3 more years minimum folks. Any less would be a joke just like the Armchair GM's and HC's in this thread.

 

 

 

I mostly agree, but I'm still very much playing wait and see with Edmunds and Allen. I think you're way overly optimistic there. They each had some great moments as rookies, but also had some terrible weaknesses. Allen completed less than 53% of his passes. That's just not going to be good enough. He needs to raise his completion % by 10% or he will soon be forgotten. Edmunds needs to learn how to stuff RB's without getting stuck on blocks and caught in the wash so easily. He needs better instincts. I hope they can both get it done in year 2, though. They're good kids and they are our future, rain or shine.

 

That said, I like McDermott, but feel Bene needs to prove himself.

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