THE ROCKPILE REVIEW – “How Does It Feel to Have a Quarterback?”

[Punch]

On 9/15/2025 at 10:35 AM, Shaw66 said:

I told him that I’d recently heard a Bills fan say, “The Bills used to lose games they should have won. Now, the Bills win games they should lose.” That’s how it feels to have a quarterback.

This is the heart of the matter, it should be engraved into stone tablets to be passed down to future generations.

[billsfan89]

14 hours ago, Shaw66 said:

This is literally true: I was watching the draft, expecting Darnold and Mayfield to go early, and hoping that if the Bills got a chance to get a QB it would be Rosen. I wasn't a big Rosen guy, but I thought at least he'd stabilize things and move the franchise forward. But like others, his attitude bothered me. He was so smug, so confident in himself and so obnoxious telling us all.  Allen's perceived question marks scared me. Then the trade up happened, the message went up saying the pick was in, and suddenly I just flipped. My brain started screaming, "TAKE THE TALENT!  TAKE THE TALENT!!!  TAKE ALLEN!!!"  

 

I'd like to say I knew what was coming from Allen, but I didn't. It was purely my gut, and I have no idea where it came from.

 

 

 

I remembered thinking don't trade up you need to build a complete team around any QB you draft and if you have to take Lamar at pick 12 just take him and use all those other picks to grab some O-line and WR's for him. But then when they traded up I thought I was a "wrong Josh" guy. But then I looked at what I wrote and I seemed to like the pick and not mention anything about Rosen. I think I was worried about the accuracy issues but understood that the accuracy issues with Josh may have been overblown in college. It wouldn't have been terrible to have Lamar and merely get the second best QB in the draft and a top 2-4 QB in the league but I'm super glad we got Josh Allen.

 

I guess my memory was faulty and I wasn't as off on Allen as I thought...

[Shaw66]

21 hours ago, Ayjent said:

To do that they must have earned the coaching staff's trust, because we have seen guys that have not and later we come to understand why.  Maybe they've changed their approach some (out of necessity or out of changing the recipe to see what happens), but I don't think they'd do anything to disrespect the other players efforts at other positions or on the depth chart at the same position.

 

I like Walker's potential and think he'll be a great player for the Bills.  I think games are the most teachable moments if you can afford them and the player isn't a disaster when they are out there.  I also think it lets them show what they can do well, and how to tweak their game and the D to those strengths.

 

Yeah, I agree. I don't think those guys are playing because McDermott has a different philosophy. If they weren't developing through training camp, Beane would have been active picking up guys as they got cut elsewhere.  They could have thrown Phillips in there Sunday, if they thought someone wasn't ready, but that didn't happen. 

 

Still, there's no question that getting the playing time is a great opportunity to continue their NFL educations. It means they should know what they're doing when the second half of the season comes around. 

 

I feel the same way about Bishop. He's not playing because of an injury, but if he weren't minimally competent he would be playing. It could have been Hamlin or even Poyer.  But since he's at least decent the playing time is a great way to get him up the learning curve and ready for the second half. 

 

And it was great that Dorian Strong got the time he did against the Ravens, and now he's getting more spot time.  

 

All those guys getting playing time is good for the games to come. 

[GaryPinC]

22 hours ago, Ayjent said:

To do that they must have earned the coaching staff's trust, because we have seen guys that have not and later we come to understand why.  Maybe they've changed their approach some (out of necessity or out of changing the recipe to see what happens), but I don't think they'd do anything to disrespect the other players efforts at other positions or on the depth chart at the same position.

 

I like Walker's potential and think he'll be a great player for the Bills.  I think games are the most teachable moments if you can afford them and the player isn't a disaster when they are out there.  I also think it lets them show what they can do well, and how to tweak their game and the D to those strengths.

 

Totally agree, I'd just add if it's done properly it should be done respectfully.  But perceptions of respectful are admittedly subjective, and this also is a business.

 

You can shift the culture a bit because that is firmly established.  Getting young players real game experience in non-critical points of the second half to see if they can contribute later in the season.  Injuries are forever a problem and reason to filter in new talent.

 

Coaches can talk to established players one-on-one about what they need to see more of before cycling in younger players. 

 

McDermott seems to be making this shift on defense finally, in one of his preseason pressors he mentioned to the effect that the starters aren't as ready as he'd like them but he was going to put them in and play through it anyways.  I would also guess Damar Hamlin could run that defense better than Bishop but everyone can see Hamlin is not the answer as a starter.

 

That's what we need, we aren't trying to establish a consistent level of play, we're trying to find the right mix of talent and playmaking to win a Superbowl.

Edited September 17 by GaryPinC

[nuklz2594]

Reminds me of drought years. Bride of 35 years is a pats woman. Suffered the Brady years... 

[Ayjent]

5 hours ago, Shaw66 said:

Yeah, I agree. I don't think those guys are playing because McDermott has a different philosophy. If they weren't developing through training camp, Beane would have been active picking up guys as they got cut elsewhere.  They could have thrown Phillips in there Sunday, if they thought someone wasn't ready, but that didn't happen. 

 

Still, there's no question that getting the playing time is a great opportunity to continue their NFL educations. It means they should know what they're doing when the second half of the season comes around. 

 

I feel the same way about Bishop. He's not playing because of an injury, but if he weren't minimally competent he would be playing. It could have been Hamlin or even Poyer.  But since he's at least decent the playing time is a great way to get him up the learning curve and ready for the second half. 

 

And it was great that Dorian Strong got the time he did against the Ravens, and now he's getting more spot time.  

 

All those guys getting playing time is good for the games to come. 

Definitely - I think you are spot on about all of that.  Bishop had me really concerned going into the season as someone that they weren't quite ready to trust and that they may put Damar back out there.  I think Damar is a good dude and has done great things for so many since being in that scary situation, and for all of that I really respect the hell out of him.   However, as a football player he appears to have the concept of what needs to be done and his assignment down, but he is just entirely limited as a player that has the natural speed and instincts to be anything short of a liability that has to be taken into account to how the team plays Defense.  And the Defense wasn't totally bad last year with him out there, but it wasn't very good against coordinators and teams that knew how and had the talent to attack the Bills (see McVay's playcalling last year as the Bills couldn't answer any questions the Rams were asking). 

 

But back to Bishop, the one thing that gave me some confidence that the Bills were ready to trust him was how he was slotted into the starting role and the coaches didn't seem to be wavering from that.  I don't necessarily think he has a kung-fu grip on the starting spot, because he still needs to prove he is more than just serviceable player.   I'm hoping for the best, but also a bit skeptical until I see consistent play over multiple regular season performances.

 

I do wonder how much they may utilize Jordan Hancock and can see him potentially in a hybrid slot CB/safety role and most likely in the Dime packages.  Maybe he's not good enough, yet, but he was flashing potential in the preseason for whatever that means.  I do think it means that the player has the ability to play at the NFL level, but you can't get carried away because its the preseason and you aren't facing everyone's best players or best efforts.  At the end of the day the roster doesn't look as imposing as the Ravens on paper, but what the Bills seem to be morphing into is a team that can adjust and has depth to make such adjustmetns.  You've seen the full transformation of that concept on the Offensive side and I feel like the Defensive side is catching up to that same concept, and we'll see if this is the year they are able to establish it.  I do think teams are going to try to be physical and dare the Bills D to plan man, and they know it, too.