Knox interview

[ghz in pittsburgh]

Some interesting info from Knox. No coaches nor QB1 has said so yet, but direct confirmation from a guy who plays the same position that Kincaid can read a defense and has sure hands, pretty much what he's known for from the scouting world. If Kincaid can survive the physicality in real NFL games, I think 12 personnel will be the top formation for the Bills this coming season, which is a big change because they have been a heavy 11 personnel offense since Allen was drafted.

One surprise to me is that Knox said he kind of knew the Bills were looking for drafting Kincaid. I don't think Beane would've told players what they are looking for in the draft. It's as top secret as it goes for an NFL team. Otherwise leaks will be everywhere. My guess is that Allen is more involved in that department with Beane and Knox admitted watching the draft with Josh on that night, so it might be he got it from Josh. On the other hand, it may be why Josh said he's never committed to football more than he's now. Looks like he's not only looking into improving himself, but also into improving his weapons, probably protections etc. Maybe he learned something from playing golf with Brady and Rodgers. Those guys notoriously getting into personnel decisions in their later stage of their career.

[Night Train]

Yep. Beane stated right after the draft that he told Knox prior to Draft weekend that he may be looking for a Flex TE to fill the slot. Wouldn't affect his standing at all. So the 12 personnel package had already been discussed.

It's just labels to me. Someone is in the slot who isn't a midget WR.. but a bigger body who creates a different domino effect on the D coverage.

[ghz in pittsburgh]

I do get that they may go TE high and Beane wants to make sure Knox is not put off by it. BUT I really doubt they would imagine Kincaid being so far down near where they are picking before the draft.

As far as 12 personnel vs 11 personnel. That is a big shift, any coaches or front office guy will tell you that. It's not simply replace the small but quicker slot WR (Mckenzie) with a bigger bodies TE (Kincaid). The entire play construction, variation, and the defensive response - starting with the personnel to counter 12 - is different. Just like Knox said in the interview, you can expect they run more if defenses put a nickel in; they may send out the TE who has a favorable match to a linebacker (slow or bad in coverage) if defenses put big package in.

Simply put, it presents a lot more challenge to a defense from scheme perspective. Use the Bills D as an example. The Bills base D is nickel because Taron Johnson can play run defense pretty well. But we see time again against some teams like the Pats, the Titans, the Ravens in the past, we struggled on D to get people off the field because we gave up size advantage when they ran on us and when we went big, we found out the Bills "can never cover a TE for years".

[Forward_Lateral]

He didn't tell him they were specifically drafting Kincaid. He told him they were probably drafting a TE.

[Woodman]

He didn't tell him they were specifically drafting Kincaid. He told him they were probably drafting a TE.

Exactly and when they were so close to getting the number 1 TE they had to close the deal.

[ghz in pittsburgh]

It is a concerted effort in the direction of 12 personnel. The Bills were known for throwing the ball around outside and deep with Josh. Beasley and Josh's running in the middle elevated their offense to elite level. Last year we saw it became throwing outside and Josh's running. After the Jets game, it is pretty much coming down to throwing outside. Thus easier for teams to defend us.

Notice an important theme is that running the ball by a RB, which is never the strength of 11 personnel (unless you have a HOF at RB position), was an afterthought. It is why we hear former coaches on TV, analysts, and people like Jim Kelly mention it time and time again.

So this year, they went and addressed the Guard position on O-Line, drafted a top-notch TE, improved RB room with guys who can publish you if you keep putting 5 DBs out there. Most with the intent to be able to attack the middle with RB or TE.

[sukie]

The lack of passing interest in the middle of the field was obvious and frustrating. I think that changes with Kincaid. Diggs 2 seasons ago was worked over the middle slot. Remember how he would surrender prior to a hit? None of that happened last year.

I read somewhere Dorsey is aware of middle field lack. You have RBs with hands. Attack the middle and we don’t need Gabe to wow us with constant toe drag attempts.