2025 OTAs are underway

[BearNorth]

1 hour ago, Paup 1995MVP said:

I thought he was tremendous last year.  The best play at Center since Kent Hull retired.  

Eric Wood will probably disagree.

[Ethan in Cleveland]

4 hours ago, Logic said:

Yeah my takeaway from the Joe B article with regard to Bishop is that the coaching staff was "impressed enough with how he progressed at practice throughout the year and in his game opportunities at the end of it" (paraphrased) to warrant not making more major investments at the position this offseason.

I also thought coach McDermott's offseason comments about giving Bishop every opportunity to win the starting job was a bit differently worded than the usual "everyone will compete" coach speak. It sounded to me like the language of a man who is all but expecting Bishop to earn the starting job this year. His running with the starting defense early on in OTAs suggests that this is probably how things will play out.

Bishop was winning the starting job in TC last year and would have started week 1 if not for the scapula injury.  No surprise he is the early leader to start.  

Edited Wednesday at 11:48 PM by Ethan in Cleveland

[DJB]

Is Bishop going to be put in a position to succeed this year and played at his natural SS position?

[Chandler#81]

Very encouraging news about Cole Bishop!

 

[Chandler#81]

McDermott throwing down. Not mincing words. ‘I’m great!’ Excellent interview!

 

Full interview 

 

Edited yesterday at 01:02 AM by Chandler#81

[SCBills]

1 hour ago, Chandler#81 said:

McDermott throwing down. Not mincing words. ‘I’m great!’ Excellent interview!

 

Full interview 

 

Interesting interview.  Overall good, and im not sure I mind.. but he seemed a bit defensive about his playoff defense, saying that there were games where the defense saved the offense. 
 

I can think of one..

 

I know the defense played well in games where the offense was also good. 
 

Ravens game is the only one that really comes to mind with Taron Johnson’s Pick Six and then knocking out Lamar. 

Defense in the Playoffs fell apart against Watson, trash against Rivers, trash against Burrow, always trash against Mahomes. 
 

Only good QB they have held their own against is Lamar. 

 

Edited yesterday at 01:38 AM by SCBills

[SoonerBillsFan]

1 hour ago, DJB said:

Is Bishop going to be put in a position to succeed this year and played at his natural SS position?

We don't have traditional SS and FS.  Both are interchangeable 

1 hour ago, Chandler#81 said:

McDermott throwing down. Not mincing words. ‘I’m great!’ Excellent interview!

 

Full interview 

 

McDermott throwing bombs lol.  Honestly I have seen a difference this offseason in him.   Calling out Coleman,saying he realizes changes needed to be made on how he approaches the defense ( see bigger DT's brought in)  and now this.

[Dr. Who]

17 minutes ago, SCBills said:

Interesting interview.  Overall good, and im not sure I mind.. but he seemed a bit defensive about his playoff defense, saying that there were games where the defense saved the offense. 
 

I can think of one..

 

I know the defense played well in games where the offense was also good. 
 

Ravens game is the only one that really comes to mind with Taron Johnson’s Pick Six and then knocking out Lamar. 

Defense in the Playoffs fell apart against Watson, trash against Rivers, trash against Burrow, always trash against Mahomes. 
 

Only good QB they have held their own against is Lamar. 

 

There has been some terrible injury luck, but with the current investment in that side of the ball, it just has to be better when it matters most. This can't be a growing pains year. By the playoffs, be good, be very good.

[Cray51]

1 hour ago, SCBills said:

Interesting interview.  Overall good, and im not sure I mind.. but he seemed a bit defensive about his playoff defense, saying that there were games where the defense saved the offense. 
 

I can think of one..

 

I know the defense played well in games where the offense was also good. 
 

Ravens game is the only one that really comes to mind with Taron Johnson’s Pick Six and then knocking out Lamar. 

Defense in the Playoffs fell apart against Watson, trash against Rivers, trash against Burrow, always trash against Mahomes. 
 

Only good QB they have held their own against is Lamar. 

 

I’ll disagree on Watson.  The defense held a team to 19 points in the 4 quarters.  Your goal as a defense is to hold a team under 20.  Offense completely sputtered in that second half, and the defense made a crucial 4th down stop to let them tie it up to force overtime.

 

they also forced 3 turnovers against Lamar this year which helped the offense out a ton.

 

burrow neither side of the team showed up, and rivers both sides played pretty even.

 

chiefs games where Allen goes alien mode are the only real games where the defense has truly let the team down

[NickelCity]

McDermott was critical of Bishop when he showed up to training camp last year, so it's good to see a very different narrative. 

 

I wasn't hugely optimistic about him especially in pass defense so I'm glad to hear this news and hope it continues.

Edited yesterday at 03:48 AM by NickelCity

[Thurman#1]

17 hours ago, Mango said:

 

Hijacking the thread a bit here, and then I will back out of the topic, but I actually think that the Bills have emboldened Terry on the hockey side because McBeane manage him so well that he thinks he is the reason for the Bills success. 

I think that McBeane convincing Pegula to draft Allen was the turning point for managing the organization and Pegula. They without a doubt put on a masterclass. Everybody is sort of wowed by McBeane sitting down and spending 17 hours (with Pegula in the room) to watch literally every snap Allen took. But it's insane. There are so many moving parts to prepare for the draft. Preparation that begins and is on going for a year before you get to that point.

 

"Because we want ownership behind this" and "just to go through ownership" was the most telling quotes from Beane in that story. I don't believe for one second that in stable organizations like the Baltimore Ravens that Eric Decosta has to sit down with Steve Bisciotti to for 17 hours, and watch every single snap from a QB prospect right before the drat in order to "get ownership behind" the GM and HC's pick for the QB position. 

What I do believe is the mountain of evidence of Pegula's flat management style that he has amassed from 2011 - today with the Sabres and 2014-2018 with the Bills. Where anybody can bring Terry an idea, and if he likes it he pulls power from his senior executives (ie. HC and/or GM) and pulls the trigger. And I believe that the reason for that 17 hour meeting with Pegula is mostly because it was required of McBeane to change Pegula's mind rather than that meeting being a super normal occurrence for teams with their owners just before the draft. 

 

 

You might be right when you say, "I don't believe for one second that in stable organizations like the Baltimore Ravens that Eric Decosta has to sit down with Steve Bisciotti to for 17 hours, and watch every single snap from a QB prospect right before the drat in order to "get ownership behind" the GM and HC's pick for the QB position. "

 

You might also be wrong. But you might be right.

 

But nowhere did it say that the Bills did what you said they did either. It's you, not them, saying they "had to" sit Terry down for this.

 

Nor did it say that the reason they did it was to get him behind their pick. That's simply your take. It could easily be that they wanted him to be behind their decision, whether or not he agreed, having seen that they spent a ton of time and thought on it. Wanting an owner to be behind your decision doesn't mean that you have to force the owner to have the same opinion. Could mean they just wanted him to see that they could defend their opinion. You're making your own happy assumptions here and treating them as fact.

 

Also nowhere does it say that they had "to change Pegula's mind." Another belief by you with no particular evidence whatsoever.

 

I don't know that you're wrong about any of this, but I don't see any evidence that you're right.

 

So yeah, maybe the Ravens don't have to do that. But neither did the Bills. Did McBeane sit down with the owner and go through their decision-making process? Yeah. I'm betting the Ravens do that on their most important decisions as well.

Edited 22 hours ago by Thurman#1

[Thurman#1]

12 hours ago, Ridgewaycynic2013 said:

Anyone else read this, and picture the kid who delivered the Courier or the Buffalo News coming to your door to collect? 🤔

*
"Hi, it's Matt.  I'm collecting."

 

 

 

Mr. Rezhevski? It's been 17 weeks, sir. I know you're in there. Do I have to knock all day?

[Thurman#1]

5 hours ago, SCBills said:

Interesting interview.  Overall good, and im not sure I mind.. but he seemed a bit defensive about his playoff defense, saying that there were games where the defense saved the offense. 
 

I can think of one..

 

I know the defense played well in games where the offense was also good. 
 

Ravens game is the only one that really comes to mind with Taron Johnson’s Pick Six and then knocking out Lamar. 

Defense in the Playoffs fell apart against Watson, trash against Rivers, trash against Burrow, always trash against Mahomes. 
 

Only good QB they have held their own against is Lamar. 

 

 

 

The Colts game just before the Taron pick six game. Bills up by three and we get the ball back with 6 mins left in the game and the offense can't do much. The Colts get the ball back with 2:30 left and the defense strangled them slow, the drive ending at the Bills 47 as time ran out.

 

In 2021 both units just dominated the Pats, but that certainly included the defense holding the Pats to three points till very late in the 3rd quarter.

 

The 2022 Fins game where we won by three with the D stopping them on the last two drives. Our offense was great the first 33 minutes, but after that it was mostly up to the defense, and they came through.

 

In the 2023 game against the Steelers, both sides of the ball looked terrific, defense just as much as the offense.

 

In the Broncos game last year the D was every bit as good as the offense. 

 

The Baltimore game last year also. The pick and the three fumbles, two of them lost to the Bills, were huge in winning that game. The offense was also good, but not beyond the D.

 

Outside of the Chiefs games, the D has mostly been a very good playoffs group.

 

The Bengals game the whole team was running on emotional vapors. That certainly included the D, but it's not like the offense was good.

 

 

Edited yesterday at 06:47 AM by Thurman#1

[Billy Claude]

2 hours ago, Thurman#1 said:

 

 

The Colts game just before the Taron pick six game. Bills up by three and we get the ball back with 6 mins left in the game and the offense can't do much. The Colts get the ball back with 2:30 left and the defense strangled them slow, the drive ending at the Bills 47 as time ran out.

 

In 2021 both units just dominated the Pats, but that certainly included the defense holding the Pats to three points till very late in the 3rd quarter.

 

The 2022 Fins game where we won by three with the D stopping them on the last two drives. Our offense was great the first 33 minutes, but after that it was mostly up to the defense, and they came through.

 

In the 2023 game against the Steelers, both sides of the ball looked terrific, defense just as much as the offense.

 

In the Broncos game last year the D was every bit as good as the offense. 

 

The Baltimore game last year also. The pick and the three fumbles, two of them lost to the Bills, were huge in winning that game. The offense was also good, but not beyond the D.

 

Outside of the Chiefs games, the D has mostly been a very good playoffs group.

 

The Bengals game the whole team was running on emotional vapors. That certainly included the D, but it's not like the offense was good.

 

 

 

 

People see the 34-31 score in the 2022 Bills-Dolphins playoff game and think the offense was great and the defense was awful but it was actually the other way around.

 

After the first quarter and a half the offense and special teams did their best to give the game away (two ints, a fumble returned for a TD, and a 50 yard punt return). The Miami scoring drives in that game were 38 yds (FG), 18 yds (FG), 8 yds (FG), 18 yds (TD),  fumble return (TD), and 75 yds (TD).   The defense also set up two of the Bills' TDs via interceptions (23 yds and 33 yds TD drives).

 

 

 

 

Edited 22 hours ago by Billy Claude

[Ridgewaycynic2013]

5 hours ago, Thurman#1 said:

 

 

Mr. Rezhevski? It's been 17 weeks, sir. I know you're in there. Do I have to knock all day?

Rezhevski's also the type that calls Circulation when it snowed 2 feet overnight, and the kid was 10 minutes late with the paper. 🤨 

[SoonerBillsFan]

12 hours ago, Toyo321 said:

Tre White Veteran cornerback struggles

White gave up a pair of touchdowns on the day - the first to Moore and then another to veteran receiver Curtis Samuel. White matched up with most of the Bills speedsters and had a few reps that didn’t go his way. The veteran was brought in to compete for the starting job opposite Christian Benford.

It’s just one practice and not worth overreacting to, but there are legitimate concerns about White’s ability to cover fast receivers at this stage of his career. When he did get beat in limited time with the Los Angeles Rams last season, it was usually down the field and while working against a faster player.

 

https://www.syracuse.com/buffalo-bills/2025/05/buffalo-bills-otas-week-1-observations-new-wr-shines-2-rookies-flash.html

 

I still am having a hard time trying to understand why they brought him back at all.  He played terrible in LA and with the Ravens.....After his injury recovery.

 

Its only OTA's and he can't keep up with the our WR speed....

I think he may end up as CB #5 Or on the PS tutoring Mad Max etc.

[eball]

12 hours ago, BearNorth said:

Eric Wood will probably disagree.

 

Wood, for better or worse, gets lost in the shuffle as a “drought guy.”  Nobody remembers which offensive lineman stood out when the team is mired in a 17-year playoff hiatus.  I think Wood was a good center but I’m pretty confident McGovern is better.

 

[Doc]

8 hours ago, NickelCity said:

McDermott was critical of Bishop when he showed up to training camp last year, so it's good to see a very different narrative. 

 

I wasn't hugely optimistic about him especially in pass defense so I'm glad to hear this news and hope it continues.

 

I don't remember that.  What did he say?

[Pete]

37 minutes ago, Doc said:

 

I don't remember that.  What did he say?

He alluded to Cole struggling to grasp the playbook.  This week McDermott stated that Cole is starting to understand the safety position, but has lots of work to do.  He said once Cole pairs grasping playbook and his athletism, he will be a good player.  He said Safety is hard to learn all the nuances

[SCBills]

7 hours ago, Thurman#1 said:

 

 

The Colts game just before the Taron pick six game. Bills up by three and we get the ball back with 6 mins left in the game and the offense can't do much. The Colts get the ball back with 2:30 left and the defense strangled them slow, the drive ending at the Bills 47 as time ran out.

 

In 2021 both units just dominated the Pats, but that certainly included the defense holding the Pats to three points till very late in the 3rd quarter.

 

The 2022 Fins game where we won by three with the D stopping them on the last two drives. Our offense was great the first 33 minutes, but after that it was mostly up to the defense, and they came through.

 

In the 2023 game against the Steelers, both sides of the ball looked terrific, defense just as much as the offense.

 

In the Broncos game last year the D was every bit as good as the offense. 

 

The Baltimore game last year also. The pick and the three fumbles, two of them lost to the Bills, were huge in winning that game. The offense was also good, but not beyond the D.

 

Outside of the Chiefs games, the D has mostly been a very good playoffs group.

 

The Bengals game the whole team was running on emotional vapors. That certainly included the D, but it's not like the offense was good.

 

 

I’m not concerned about our Defense against Mason Rudolph, Mac Jones, Skylar Thompson, Bo Bix etc in the Playoffs. 
 

Yea, we were running on fumes, both sides, against the Bengals… but the Defense was hilariously bad. 
 

Against Rivers, Allen won WC Player of the Week because he had to go off when our Defense struggled to stop an aging Rivers. 
 

And we can say, well it’s really only Mahomes.. ok, well, that’s basically every year, so…