Beane again showing why he is a top GM

[Ethan in Cleveland]

1 minute ago, Coach Tuesday said:

I will forever be grateful to Beane for nailing the Allen pick.

 

I will never forgive him if he squanders Allen’s career.

Yeah and if the Jets had taken Allen, Beane and McDermott would be out of a job by now. 

[Magox]

The WR room is stronger than last year from the 4-6 spots (I don’t believe they are done improving it)

 

The offensive line is upgraded with McGovern (I don’t believe they are done improving it)

 

RB room with 2nd year for Cook/Hines along with Harris should be stronger than last year.

 

Safety spot with Hyde back should be stronger than last year.

 

CB room with second year Elam and White recovering should be stronger than last year

 

The only spot where the Bills are noticeably weaker is with the departure of Edmunds and I’m guessing a valuable resource either via FA or draft will be used to mitigate some of that loss.

[IndyMark]

As important, Beane is doing precisely what he stated he would do.  He is positioning the Bills to go BPA on draft day by minimizing glaring holes on the roster.  Additionally, he is doing it in a prudent manner which is sustainable on being competitive not just for 1-2 years but beyond.  This is not to say he has not made errors, but to his credit he is quite transparent in what he states he wants to do and then what he actually does.

 

Now, of course BPA is a rather ambiguous notion as there is never a true consensus (particularly at pick #27) on who the BPA is, yet to me at least, it is becoming clearer with each FA signing that whichever prospect seems to be BPA, will be who we select; which is exactly where we want to be and how good teams get better.  

 

A rising tide raises all ships.

 

We can certainly debate the magnitude of how we feel the Bills have gotten better this offseason, or not, but Beane is doing some pretty smart things that (again in my estimation) are making the Bills better. By itself, signing McGovern is a huge upgrade over Saffold. No question.  We are a better team simply by that single move.

 

Similarly, our #3-5 WR line up is better, no doubt with Harty and Sherfield and our big RB has just been addressed.  We all should be feeling much better that we can go BPA on draft day and not reach for a position just because we need some bodies and depth.  

 

 

[Dr. Who]

9 minutes ago, Magox said:

The WR room is stronger than last year from the 4-6 spots (I don’t believe they are done improving it)

 

The offensive line is upgraded with McGovern (I don’t believe they are done improving it)

 

RB room with 2nd year for Cook/Hines along with Harris should be stronger than last year.

 

Safety spot with Hyde back should be stronger than last year.

 

CB room with second year Elam and White recovering should be stronger than last year

 

The only spot where the Bills are noticeably weaker is with the departure of Edmunds and I’m guessing a valuable resource either via FA or draft will be used to mitigate some of that loss.

I think this is all true, but the weaknesses in some areas were significant deficiencies, so marginal improvement or status quo is not sufficient. OL, TE, WR, DT and LB still need addressing. We'll see what Beane does. LB is a real worry as it stands. I would be unhappy without one of the better rookies or a fella like Wagner, yet I will be more discontent if getting weapons and protection for Allen is relegated to low level FA signings and second and third day draft picks. Whatever Beane does, he should prioritize getting playmakers and solidifying the oline even if it means allowing for a weakness here and there in the roster.

[Warriorspikes51]

If Beane wants to show that he is a top GM, he needs to acquire another high end WR

[stlbills13]

Beane has done a great job this off-season. But we still need one more offensive upgrade that isnt a depth player. Either on the line or as a WR. Could be in the draft. Could be in a trade. We'll see. I'm excited though

[BarleyNY]

1 hour ago, Coach Tuesday said:

I will forever be grateful to Beane for nailing the Allen pick.

 

I will never forgive him if he squanders Allen’s career.

Agree with this. I don’t look at any single season in a vacuum as far as championships. What I see is an elite QB’s limited career passing by season by season. Allen will be 27 for this season so let’s say he’s got 12 prime seasons left with three prime seasons behind him. That’s 3 of 15 opportunities for a championship lost to bad luck or squandered by bad decisions. Lotta time left, but 20% is gone - and that’s not nothing. 

Edited March 21, 2023 by BarleyNY

[ngbills]

I would not make the assumption:

 

WR Room: Harry and Sherfield is an upgrade from Crowder and McK. At best it’s a swap of B players for B players. We need to add an A. 
 

RB Room: Harris is not an upgrade over Singletary. He is just new. Needed move but not an upgrade. If Cook is not the guy we still need a RB. 
 

OL: We swapped McG for Saffold. Looks like an upgrade. But the OL is not upgraded yet. It was more than just Saffold. RT was a bigger issue. 
 

 

2 minutes ago, ngbills said:

I would not make the assumption:

 

WR Room: Harry and Sherfield is an upgrade from Crowder and McK. At best it’s a swap of B players for B players. We need to add an A. 
 

RB Room: Harris is not an upgrade over Singletary. He is just new. Needed move but not an upgrade. If Cook is not the guy we still need a RB. 
 

OL: We swapped McG for Saffold. Looks like an upgrade. But the OL is not upgraded yet. It was more than just Saffold. RT was a bigger issue. 
 

 

Put another way - if any other team signed the guys we have nobody on this board would be impressed. Most have probably only heard of Harris bc he played us a lot. 

[Dopey]

On the oline, I think LG and RT were problems. I’m confident our FA guard is an upgrade over Saffold. Beane says he has confidence in Brown at RT with a full offseason to recover from back surgery. I believe we pick up a tackle to compete with Brown. Morse, Dawkins and Bates are solid, IMO.  Hoping we pick up 2 oline players in the draft for quality depth. So far, so good, Beane. IMO. 

[Dr. Who]

2 minutes ago, Dopey said:

On the oline, I think LG and RT were problems. I’m confident our FA guard is an upgrade over Saffold. Beane says he has confidence in Brown at RT with a full offseason to recover from back surgery. I believe we pick up a tackle to compete with Brown. Morse, Dawkins and Bates are solid, IMO.  Hoping we pick up 2 oline players in the draft for quality depth. So far, so good, Beane. IMO. 

Well, I would love to snag Matthew Bergeron in the second, but I suspect he won't last till 59 and we don't really have enough draft picks to move up. I think he can play both G and RT, so he gives you competition for Brown and a potential IOL.

[DrDawkinstein]

11 minutes ago, ngbills said:

 

RB Room: Harris is not an upgrade over Singletary. He is just new. Needed move but not an upgrade. If Cook is not the guy we still need a RB.

 

Harris upgrades Moss's spot. And Harris is a decent upgrade over Moss.

 

11 minutes ago, ngbills said:

Put another way - if any other team signed the guys we have nobody on this board would be impressed. Most have probably only heard of Harris bc he played us a lot. 

 

I dont know. I look at the other teams at our level and dont see anyone making much bigger moves. KC, Cincy, Philly. Cincy and Philly have both lost way more than they signed this offseason. They cant even keep up with their FA losses. KC signed an ok OT, but lost two who have better stats/profiles.

 

Tough being at the top. If you want to have a team that wins the offseason with a bunch of sexy FA signings, you need to be at the Bears/Texans/Dolphins levels. Or like we were during the drought. No thanks.

 

[LABILLBACKER]

2 hours ago, Ethan in Cleveland said:

Yeah and if the Jets had taken Allen, Beane and McDermott would be out of a job by now. 

Yes they would 

[Lost]

1 hour ago, BarleyNY said:

Agree with this. I don’t look at any single season in a vacuum as far as championships. What I see is an elite QB’s limited career passing by season by season. Allen will be 27 for this season so let’s say he’s got 12 prime seasons left with three prime seasons behind him. That’s 3 of 15 opportunities for a championship lost to bad luck or squandered by bad decisions. Lotta time left, but 20% is gone - and that’s not nothing. 

 

I was about to disagree with your assessment that Allen would still have 12 Prime years left but looking back at a lot of the top tier QBs from our league it seems a lot of them had some of their best seasons towards the end of their career while pushing 40.   These guys all have 5000+ passing yd seasons after age 36.

 

Ben Roethlisberger

Aaron Rodgers

Peyton Manning (holds single season record for both yards and TDs at age 37)

Tom Brady

Drew Brees

Edited March 21, 2023 by Lost

[uticaclub]

1 hour ago, BarleyNY said:

Agree with this. I don’t look at any single season in a vacuum as far as championships. What I see is an elite QB’s limited career passing by season by season. Allen will be 27 for this season so let’s say he’s got 12 prime seasons left with three prime seasons behind him. That’s 3 of 15 opportunities for a championship lost to bad luck or squandered by bad decisions. Lotta time left, but 20% is gone - and that’s not nothing. 

You think Allen is going to make it to 39 the way he plays and with no protection?!?!? I hope your right, but I expect Allens production to drop in 2 or 3 years. The window is MUCH shorter than you think.

[BarleyNY]

10 minutes ago, Lost said:

 

I was about to disagree with your assessment that Allen would still have 12 Prime years left but looking back at a lot of the top tier QBs from our league it seems a lot of them had some of their best seasons towards the end of their career while pushing 40.   These guys all have 5000+ passing yd seasons after age 36.

 

Ben Roethlisberger

Aaron Rodgers

Peyton Manning (holds single season record for both yards and TDs at age 37)

Tom Brady

Drew Brees

 

I was trying to be optimistic on Allen’s career length. I think it’s very reasonable to knock 2 or 3 seasons off of my estimate, especially since I said “prime” years. Roethlisberger lasted that long but was toast the last 2 or 3 seasons. 

[Gregg]

15 minutes ago, uticaclub said:

You think Allen is going to make it to 39 the way he plays and with no protection?!?!? I hope your right, but I expect Allens production to drop in 2 or 3 years. The window is MUCH shorter than you think.

 

They need Allen to do a lot less running. Think of John Elway. Early in his career Elway would scramble and run a lot. They weren't designed runs like Allen has but Elway did run. Later in his career with Terrell Davis doing the running Elway was able to focus on just throwing the ball. The Bills need to find that for Allen. If Harris can stay healthy (big if) then he can help do that. If not, then Beane has to find someone who can.

[Success]

4 hours ago, Warriorspikes51 said:

If Beane wants to show that he is a top GM, he needs to acquire another high end WR

 

Honestly, we don't need that.  We have a lot of talent on the offensive side of the ball now, and some real versatility in the WR corps.  Much more important to build the line in front of Allen so he can get the ball to the playmakers we have.

 

I have said it before - but that's the Patriots blueprint.  I hate them, but they did it right.

[PBF81]

2 hours ago, uticaclub said:

You think Allen is going to make it to 39 the way he plays and with no protection?!?!? I hope your right, but I expect Allens production to drop in 2 or 3 years. The window is MUCH shorter than you think.

 

It'll diminish significantly one he's not as fast or agile as well.  That'll be long before he's 39.  

 

At some point if he's going to continue to be a top QB, it's going to be more as a pocket passer, and how good he is then will be impacted by how good of an OL he's got in front of him.  

 

All of this also assumes that he doesn't get seriously injured due to his high-risk style of play.  

 

 

Edited March 21, 2023 by PBF81

[Dopey]

2 hours ago, uticaclub said:

You think Allen is going to make it to 39 the way he plays and with no protection?!?!? I hope your right, but I expect Allens production to drop in 2 or 3 years. The window is MUCH shorter than you think.

To me, a lot has to do with Allen's style of play more than the lack of protection. We can definitely upgrade the line to help, but Allen has been asked about his style of play. Specifically his physical runs where he tries to truck the defender or leap over him. He said that's how he plays. So did Cam Newton. If Allen continues to take on defenders like he's a RB, he ain't going to last. There's a reason RBs don't last 15 years(for the most part). He needs to mature some more. Take what the defense gives you and learn to SLIDE or RUN OUT OF BOUNDS. Pretty sure he know how to, it's just a matter of seeing how important he is in the long run to this franchise. This is up to him, not the oline. JMO.

Edited March 21, 2023 by Dopey

[HugeHeffner11]

On 3/15/2023 at 8:31 PM, Einstein said:

 

Until Week 5 you mean? The last 12 weeks of the season we were no where near the best team.

I won a ton of money on the second Bengal/Buffalo game!  I figured the way the Bengals were totally dominating and crushing the Bills in the 1st game the books were going to change the point spread drastically.  Then when the spread came out I couldn't believe it.  Vegas hardly changed it. It was a NO BRAINER!  I was only going to bet a hundred but when I saw the spread had hardly changed, I said to myself I'm going to bet a grand this is a sure thing!  By how the way, the first game went you could see the Bengals were WAY better and they were going to kill the Bills.  I should have had bigger "cajones".  I should have bet at least 5 grand.  I'll never get a sure thing like that game ever again.  Heck, they previewed how the game was going to go a week before it happened.   

14 hours ago, Dopey said:

To me, a lot has to do with Allen's style of play more than the lack of protection. We can definitely upgrade the line to help, but Allen has been asked about his style of play. Specifically his physical runs where he tries to truck the defender or leap over him. He said that's how he plays. So did Cam Newton. If Allen continues to take on defenders like he's a RB, he bain't going to last. There's a reason RBs don't last 15 years(for the most part). He needs to mature some more. Take what the defense gives you and learn to SLIDE or RUN OUT OF BOUNDS. Pretty sure he know how to, it's just a matter of seeing how important he is in the long run to this franchise. This is up to him, not the oline. JMO.

Not behind the lines McDummy and the Beaner put in front of him.  Luckily, Josh is so big and strong other wise he would be crippled already.