When Buffalo’s general manager Brandon Bean and the coach’s collection met with Josh Allen for his exit interview in January, Bill’s Brent Trust had a list of issues with their opening quarterback.
He wanted to constructively criticize the 24-year-old for how he could improve after Bill’s surprise 10-6 season, which ended with a 22-19 overtime loss in Houston in the wild-card round.
“Sometimes friends, you mention certain things … they need to work and they [just] Pay attention to you or maybe they disagree or anything, ”Bean told Yahoo Sports in a recent phone interview. “And in general, we’re talking [like], ‘This is what we want.’
With Ellen, Bean and the coach didn’t have to criticize her during that 10 to 15 minute meeting that took place in the boardroom between the training room and the new weighted room at Bill’s new facility. Frustrated even a day before Bill’s loss before quarterbacks coach Ken Dorsey or offensive coordinator Brian Double could really say anything, Lunn, he knew he had run amok on the list of areas in need of improvement.
“With the first choice as the team’s general manager, Al Lawn’s draft in 2018, Ka Be Nara said,“ He knows the things he does well and he knows he’s gotten better for taking the next step. “Josh is very self-aware, and we didn’t have much to add. He kind of knows what his offensive plan should be.”
Such as to work on its short to moderate accuracy, for example, and their quietness and consistency in the pocket. Athletic 6-foot-5, 238-pounder with ridiculous hands worked with this ridiculous hand on all of these matters with his longtime quarterback coach, former NFL QB Jordan Palmer.
There was one hole in particular that got a lot of attention in this se fisson, an Allen focused a lot on improving this spring and summer.
“I know the ball wasn’t working last year, “Ellen told Yahoo Sports in a phone interview.
According to Pro Football Focus Focus, the percentage of Allen’s deep ball fulfillment – including 30.9 out of 24 quarterbacks – 30 passes or at least 49 attempts at 20 yards or more. The ‘lack of respect for the bills’ of the defense led to more defenders around the BX due to the passing attack, which made life more difficult than it needed to be. Sure, the run game was effective, but probably not. Not the maximum.
“You [complete] more lan explained, a few more balls and now the teams will be scared to go a little deeper and now, they have to put two safes there. “When you put two security guards in there, it takes someone out of the box and so do you. [can] Give the ball to Zack [Moss] And Devin [Singletary] And let them work there. ”
That defensive plan should also open up more favorable matchups for slot receiver Cole Beasley, a certain route runner who scored 67 passes and six touchdowns for 8 77 six yards during his first season at Buffalo.
So B helped him for his purpose. Needing to pull his team into another field to pair him with sprinter John Brown, who caught 72 passes for 1,060 yards and six touchdowns last season, B called around last season’s trading deadline, to no avail. “It was the biggest thing we lost in the run,” he said.
One of the teams he called was Minnesota, which was dealing with speculation that its star receivers, Stephen Diggs, would be looking for a new team.
Bean said with a laugh, “Minnesota respectfully refused at the time, which, you know, I don’t blame them, but it was worth the effort.”
The help could come in the form of the 2020 NFL Draft, considered the best receiver draft in a decade. But B never stopped getting angry with Diggs, who caught 63 passes for 1,130 yards and six touchdowns in 2019 and led all receivers in yards (635) on targets over 20 yards per pro football focus.
So when the Vikings agreed to listen to the trade offers fur in se fission, B finally agreed to pull the trigger on the deal which sent his first-round draft pick (overall No. 22) to Minnesota for a player he believed was a threat.
“By the time we took that step, we had a pretty good idea of how this class of receivers was rated – and it was a very deep class, “said Bean.” All I can say is choose where we’ve taken it. I’m not sure there’s going to be someone who can come in and play, and we’ll see it all the time – the receivers take a while [time to develop], You know? “
In particular given all the challenges posed by COVID-19, which destroyed field non-field work during organized team activities.
“And how many first-round buses are on the receiver? Probably the same as any other position, ”said Bean. “So let’s take a proven commodity.”
Alan and Diggs Bond in Miami and at training camp
Although the draft was full of talented widens, B felt better about his decision to trade Diggs months after he talked to Allen about his new teammate after player-organized workouts in Miami.
During the get-go gutters, Lennon says Diggs spread an impressive attention to detail, constantly communicating with Allen to make sure they were on the same page on the beautiful details of walking on the road, while also offering help to young receivers.
“He’s another guy who kind of matches the type of competitiveness I have – he wants to win every single representative, he’s not okay with being okay,” Ellen said. “He wants to be great, I want to be great. And that will bring out the best in many of the team. ”
Ellen also enjoyed hanging out on the field with Diggs in Miami, as the giant joined her new partner for a lot of dinner and spent time getting to know them.
“Outside of that area, I mean I’ll call you very close, “Ellen said. “We play a lot of video games together and watch a lot of movies together. So in return, I think that will help us produce on the field. ”
Indeed, B has seen the payment of bridging connections in Bill’s closed training camp.
“What I’m saying here is that Josh and Stefan are in harmony, they’ve gotten better, “said Bean. “Josh has done a really good job, he’s not forcing the ball so far, whatever can happen, you know, is a player of his caliber. You can [say], ‘Man, I just have to feed him this guy,’ but he’s doing a good job of getting the defense there. And so the goal here was to help John Brown and Cole Beasley, not hurt or remove his touches. “
Allen is fully aware of that, as he has been excited about the bill’s decision to bring back most of the excuses in his early offenses from 2019. Ellen noted how many times she asked reporters about the accuracy of her deep-ball during camp, and she knows her words will only get her so far. After the hard-working him fison, the best way for him to silence skeptics – who wonder if he’ll be accurate enough to win in January – is with his play, starting with Bill’s season opener against the New York Jets on Sunday. .
“Questions keep coming, questions keep coming,” Ellen said with confidence. “But that’s something I’ve worked on and I’m looking for an address this year … I think we’ll find out next Sunday.”
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