Comment by Josh after practice yesterday (9/1) about the playbook…

[ganesh]

18 minutes ago, Royale with Cheese said:

I'm excited that Shakir will be able to run routes more than a yard.  

assuming he actually gets on the field.  Unfortunately, he is still not practicing.

[Pete]

DJ Moore and Skyler open up the playbook.  Now we can attack all 3 levels 

[ganesh]

57 minutes ago, Ed_Formerly_of_Roch said:

Both Brady and Carmichael learned under Payton who was certainly more offensively innovative so not shocked to hear this. Seemed last couple of years once Brady became OC, offense was geared towards run first.

Did they run a dink-and-dunk offense with Brees?

[Einstein]

8 minutes ago, Kirby Jackson said:

 

I think that there is an important distinction between “at the direction of McDermott” and “on McDermott’s watch.” I certainly don’t think McDermott was like, “hey Brandon, give me the worst WRs you can find.” It becomes more of did he allow that to happen?

 

7 minutes ago, Simon said:

I don't doubt he complained about the roster.

But I don't believe for a second that the WR position was what he would have been complaining about.

I think both of your takes are fair. 

I just dont think its fair to put all the blame for lack of WR room on McD as some are doing.

[Simon]

3 minutes ago, Kirby Jackson said:

Improving the WR room (or any room), comes at the expense of somewhere else.

 

It boggles the mind that more people don't take this into account in their arguments.

You start throwing excess draft capital and FA dollars at WR, then suddenly you don't have a great OL in front of Allen, you don't have DL/LB depth to handle the inevitable injuries, etc. 

Your trenches are more important than boundary WRs and I am 100% glad the Bills opt to shore up their foundations before they go shopping for luxury items.

[MJS]

You open the playbook up more as camp goes on. That's all he meant.

[Cash]

10 minutes ago, Kirby Jackson said:

 

I think that there is an important distinction between “at the direction of McDermott” and “on McDermott’s watch.” I certainly don’t think McDermott was like, “hey Brandon, give me the worst WRs you can find.” It becomes more of did he allow that to happen? Did Brady allow that to happen? Did Beane? Basically, who is to blame for that “everybody eats” nonsense? The answer is almost certainly a little bit of all of them. 
 

Improving the WR room (or any room), comes at the expense of somewhere else. That’s true on every team and at every position. The GM, HC, and coordinators all play a role here. I leave out the position coaches b/c they are all lobbying for better guys in their room. So while the Bills didn’t try to have a bad WR group, they were okay with it being bad to be better other places. They made a decision in 2025 to not take a WR before pick 240 and to sign Josh Palmer while letting Samuel go. They didn’t draft an offensive player until their 6th pick number 173 overall. That was a choice that they made.
 

If you gave them all truth serum, they’d tell you, “this is going to be a terrible WR group but we can manage around it.” If they’re being honest, they knew that. The “managing around it” piece though is where we get back to an organizational philosophy. This is some Beane, some McDermott, but even some Brady and Babich. They decided that they were better off adding Hairston, Sanders, Jackson, Walker and Hancock. Maybe if they could “do it over” they would. Maybe they wouldn’t. I don’t think that they “decided” to have bad WRs as much as they “decided” that injecting some youth into the defense was more important. They were willing to accept garbage WRs in exchange for an improved, young, inexpensive defense. How much influence each person had on that is debatable. The part that isn’t up for debate is that they all played a role in that decision.

 

Good post.  It's been credibly reported that McD had issues with the roster, and complained to Pegula that Beane wasn't getting him enough talent.  Beyond that, none of us know, and anyone assuming is engaging in a fool's errand.  So I'll be the latest fool.  It's very plausible to me that McD's complaints were mostly focused on the defensive talent at that time.  Our defense was pretty rough those last 2 years, and that's McD's side of the ball.  So he's naturally going to look at/emphasize defense first, plus in terms of CYA - a defensive-minded head coach having a bad defense is not a good look for employability.  It's not at all crazy for me to think that McD viewed the offense as plenty good enough and was focused on getting the defense back up to par.

 

And I would be remiss if I didn't also include the counterpoint: The post-Diggs WR moves have been pretty consistent with Carolina's WR moves during Beane's tenure there.  @GunnerBill has been singing that song for years, and I think he's got a point.  Whether McD agreed or not, I think it's clear that Beane thought his WR room was "good enough" entering both 2024 & 2025.  To Beane's credit, he recognized that it was not in fact "good enough" both years, and made moves both years to try to address that - trading for Cooper in 2024, and signing Cooks in 2025 (after reportedly trying to deal for Waddle and others at the deadline).  The Cooper trade worked pretty well, even though he was basically washed up, because he kept defenses more honest and made the occasional big catch when called on.  The Cooks signing did help, but man the guy couldn't catch last year.  Like, even when it was good it was still not great.  I just saw a video showing every team's longest pass by air yards the other day, and ours was a 50ish yard bomb to Cooks.  Cooks ran past 2 defenders and had a clear path to the endzone if he made a clean catch.  Instead, Cooks did some weird jumping possession catch and went to the ground as part of it.  Yeah, the 50 yard catch is awesome!  But he left like 25 more yards and a TD on the table.

[Don Otreply]

4 hours ago, eball said:

I don’t know if anyone else caught this, but Josh was asked what he wanted to accomplish at training camp this year. He talked about building the connection with DJ Moore, working on his mechanics, normal stuff…but then he made what I took to be a very telling statement. He said he’s learning more “as Joe opens his playbook up.”

 

This is the first time I’ve heard something that directly suggests Brady’s playbook was “limited” under McDermott. Now, was that because of the personnel they did or didn’t have, or because McD had more control than we were led to believe? I guess that’s up to your individual interpretation.

 

Anyway, I found it interesting.

 

Josh seems dialed in.

 

I saw that too, had similar thoughts,

I think Carmichael is having positive influence on the the offense plays and how / when they are called, hence the opening of the play book, 🤞🤞

Edited September 2 by Don Otreply

[BananaB]

Everyone knew it was Brady calling plays to what McD visioned. Don’t think Josh made his statement as a shot at McD at all. 

[sunshynman]

41 minutes ago, Einstein said:

So you can't imagine that McDermott wanted a real outside threat but Beane wouldn't do it.

But you CAN somehow imagine that Beane knew we desperately needed a real outside threat, but refused to do it because McDermott wanted Amari Cooper and Brandon Cooks instead?

Some of you are truly burying your head in the sand. And that's not even including the reports from long-standing and respected Buffalo/NFL writers that state McDermott DID go to war with Beane/Pegula about the roster. 
 

Beane tried, He drafted Coleman (I'm sure McD wanted that). We made calls about Waddle and Shaheed. We couldn't match the ask. So he got Cooks. Only thing he could have done was draft WR higher, traded for someone before last year, or paid to much for a guy. What brought about Coleman's issues? I suspect McD's handling of him was not the greatest. 

30 minutes ago, Simon said:

 

It boggles the mind that more people don't take this into account in their arguments.

You start throwing excess draft capital and FA dollars at WR, then suddenly you don't have a great OL in front of Allen, you don't have DL/LB depth to handle the inevitable injuries, etc. 

Your trenches are more important than boundary WRs and I am 100% glad the Bills opt to shore up their foundations before they go shopping for luxury items.

I am ok with the not bet everything at the expense of the future. But Ram's won a SB giving away draft picks for the correct players. And now they are quickly competitive again and look to have monster team this year. They are proof if your smart enough, it works. My biggest worry is time is running low for Josh. But he could go on a 10 year run! I hope.

[BillsFan130]

1 hour ago, Augie said:

 

McD was the one who felt we didn’t have a SB roster, and that didn’t sit well with the powers that be. EVERYBODY knew our offense has lacked a real  outside threat, and they have only made half ass attempts in recent years to fill the role with players like Amari Cooper and Cooks. You can think what you’d like. 

 

 

.

He said that to try and save his own arse lol. Deflecting blame is what he does best.

It's also an extremely cowardly thing to say as a head coach of a team. Especially when you have a first ballot half of fame QB on your team

[Simon]

5 minutes ago, sunshynman said:

I am ok with the not bet everything at the expense of the future. But Ram's won a SB giving away draft picks for the correct players. And now they are quickly competitive again and look to have monster team this year. They are proof if your smart enough, it works.

 

It can work, but is also just as likely to blow up in your face. 

They've won exactly one more Super Bowl than the Bills so I'd be cautious about using them as blueprint.

The Bills being highly competitive with a legit chance at a championship every single year seems like a pretty good path to me.

[GunnerBill]

20 minutes ago, Cash said:

 

Good post.  It's been credibly reported that McD had issues with the roster, and complained to Pegula that Beane wasn't getting him enough talent.  Beyond that, none of us know, and anyone assuming is engaging in a fool's errand.  So I'll be the latest fool.  It's very plausible to me that McD's complaints were mostly focused on the defensive talent at that time.  Our defense was pretty rough those last 2 years, and that's McD's side of the ball.  So he's naturally going to look at/emphasize defense first, plus in terms of CYA - a defensive-minded head coach having a bad defense is not a good look for employability.  It's not at all crazy for me to think that McD viewed the offense as plenty good enough and was focused on getting the defense back up to par.

 

And I would be remiss if I didn't also include the counterpoint: The post-Diggs WR moves have been pretty consistent with Carolina's WR moves during Beane's tenure there.  @GunnerBill has been singing that song for years, and I think he's got a point.  Whether McD agreed or not, I think it's clear that Beane thought his WR room was "good enough" entering both 2024 & 2025.  To Beane's credit, he recognized that it was not in fact "good enough" both years, and made moves both years to try to address that - trading for Cooper in 2024, and signing Cooks in 2025 (after reportedly trying to deal for Waddle and others at the deadline).  The Cooper trade worked pretty well, even though he was basically washed up, because he kept defenses more honest and made the occasional big catch when called on.  The Cooks signing did help, but man the guy couldn't catch last year.  Like, even when it was good it was still not great.  I just saw a video showing every team's longest pass by air yards the other day, and ours was a 50ish yard bomb to Cooks.  Cooks ran past 2 defenders and had a clear path to the endzone if he made a clean catch.  Instead, Cooks did some weird jumping possession catch and went to the ground as part of it.  Yeah, the 50 yard catch is awesome!  But he left like 25 more yards and a TD on the table.

 

McDermott did allude to the WR deficiency at the end of last season in pressers the final few weeks of regular season. Some barbed comments in response to questions about the pass game about "having to call things our guys can execute" and that sort of thing. 

 

McDermott 100% had a say, and an influential one, on the strategic build of the roster - though as you refer to Brandon Beane drafts the way the Carolina Panthers drafted in the Hurney and Gettleman eras. That is where he cut his cloth and that is the foundation of his team building belief. But the individual talent evaluations they are all Beane and he is accountable for them. I think McD at the end was frustrated about what they were getting out of multiple of the guys Beane had brought in. 

[LarryMadman]

I don't think for a minute Brandon just got players and told Sean here ya go make it work. No doubt in my mind Sean gave Brandon very heavy input on what he wanted and who to get at every position. 

 

Sean controlled everything at One Bills Drive and we're to believe it wasn't him telling Beane which players to get, get outta here with that!

Edited September 2 by LarryMadman

[Don Otreply]

1 hour ago, Einstein said:

 

Based on what evidence do you think this?

 

As Augie said, McDermott was the one who was complaining about the roster. It was Beane and Pegula who were defending the roster.

 

There is absolutely zero evidence that McDermott told Beane not to get a quality wide receiver. Such a preposterous idea.

GMs bring in the types of players the HC is wanting /  requesting, it’s SOP throughout the league, the teams where this doesn’t happen regularly become a sh-t show in short order. Sean got what he wanted for nearly a decade, GMs and HCs don’t always agree, but they don’t purposely sabotage each other. Sean was at times his own worst enemy, 

[MasterStrategist]

1 hour ago, Augie said:

 

McD was the one who felt we didn’t have a SB roster, and that didn’t sit well with the powers that be. EVERYBODY knew our offense has lacked a real  outside threat, and they have only made half ass attempts in recent years to fill the role with players like Amari Cooper and Cooks. You can think what you’d like. 

 

 

.

McD was a HUGE part of building this roster.  Especially on the defensive side of the ball, where our team melted down the most in the playoffs, as he found players that fit his scheme -- case in point, he had "his guys".

 

To think McD didn't have a certain style of player or specific measureables or specific traits, is just ignoring the obvious. Not going to re-open the Beane vs McD, but it's like having HR recruit for a specific "role"/skill set, as a HC you are directing what types of players you want to fit your scheme on both sides of the ball.

 

So this entire argument that McD said "we didn't have a SB roster", was partly and perhaps a sizeable part his own doing (100% on defensive side of the ball).

[Scott7975]

Here is the interview in case people want to hear it themselves. Its the first questioned answered. He answers other good questions too like about the TEs and stuff. The volume is pretty low so you will probably have to turn it up, but then there are some guys asking questions that get really loud.

 

 

My take is an offense is ever evolving so every year there will be more stuff or new stuff. If there isn't, I think the OC is probably bad at their job because the NFL constantly moves. It's likely also more tailored to the personnel they have too, which is another thing I think an OC needs to be good at. Add to that Carmichael is adding stuff and this is more Brady less McD. It's all the things, not just McD.

 

What I found interesting is they are still using these practices as training camp type practices and havent even gotten into Houston stuff yet. Im sure the coaches have people into it but the players haven't been yet. Especially since our next game is a short week.

Edited September 2 by Scott7975

[BeyondTheProcess]

5 hours ago, eball said:

I don’t know if anyone else caught this, but Josh was asked what he wanted to accomplish at training camp this year. He talked about building the connection with DJ Moore, working on his mechanics, normal stuff…but then he made what I took to be a very telling statement. He said he’s learning more “as Joe opens his playbook up.”

 

This is the first time I’ve heard something that directly suggests Brady’s playbook was “limited” under McDermott. Now, was that because of the personnel they did or didn’t have, or because McD had more control than we were led to believe? I guess that’s up to your individual interpretation.

 

Anyway, I found it interesting.

 

Josh seems dialed in.

 

 

McD totally had the brakes on the offense.   

 

if we get both a full Brady offensive show PLUS a early 2000's Dick LeBeau attacking defense, we are in for a treat. 

[eball]

2 hours ago, Augie said:

 

McD was the one who felt we didn’t have a SB roster, and that didn’t sit well with the powers that be. EVERYBODY knew our offense has lacked a real  outside threat, and they have only made half ass attempts in recent years to fill the role with players like Amari Cooper and Cooks. You can think what you’d like. 

 

 

.

I don’t think a comment from Vic Carucci that was extremely vague, a comment he admitted was second-hand, should continue to be repeated by you and @Einstein as though it is gospel that McD “demanded a better roster.”

 

The more reasonable take (IMO) is that McD, Beane, and possibly Pegula had regular conversations about the roster and what they needed. Does anyone really view McD as the type of guy to say “I can’t win a SB with this roster?” I certainly don’t. 
 

[Bruffalo]

Anyone who thinks McDermott would have preferred a fast and loose style of offense but just didn't have the personnel is kidding themselves.

This is the guy who allegedly blamed the offense for 13 seconds by "leaving too much time on the clock". 

 

Daboll wasn't a good HC but his headbutting at OC with McD was more than likely about the style and pace of play.