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New York Times
02-06-2025
- Business
- New York Times
Eagles OC Kevin Patullo has firm grasp of the bigger picture. Just ask Chan Gailey
On a taxing morning in the fall of 2008, Kevin Patullo walked into a staff room in which the whiteboards were all blank. The Kansas City Chiefs' offensive coaches, already reeling from a series of losses that would eventually stretch to 14, heard their offensive coordinator, Chan Gailey, pronounce the problem they never anticipated they'd need to solve. They'd lost their starting quarterback, Brodie Croyle, first to a bruised shoulder before a season-ending knee injury. They'd lost their backup, Damon Huard, first to a concussion before a season-ending thumb injury. They were down to their third-stringer, Tyler Thigpen, a former seventh-round pick who'd been a dual-threat quarterback at FCS-level Coastal Carolina. Advertisement Thigpen had only played one prior game for the Chiefs, in 2007 — and it'd only been for two drives. Patullo, then a 27-year-old offensive quality control coach, knew most of the playbook they'd prepared for the 2008 season was out. Gailey needed fresh ideas. 'All right,' Patullo recalled Gailey saying. 'We got to figure out a new offense for this week.' It's the sort of memory Patullo, a first-time NFL offensive coordinator, uses for reference in his first season as the Philadelphia Eagles' play caller. It's certainly not the most glamorous memory. No Hollywood producer is scrambling for a script about the mental fortitude of a Chiefs regime that was overhauled after losing the most games in team history. Few scribes at the time even noted Patullo's firing, or the young coach the Chiefs hired to fill Patullo's vacancy in offensive quality control … Nick Sirianni. But Patullo knows football is a game in which victors capitalize on lessons learned from losses. He knows that some of the game's biggest innovations came from coaches who chose creativity over apathy, even though they knew they were already damned. That describes Gailey, whom Patullo called his 'greatest influence' in football schematics. Indeed, the 2008 Chiefs were dreadful. However, the solutions Gailey and his staff drew on those blank whiteboards dramatically improved their efficiency on offense and popularized a concept the NFL hadn't yet explored: the pistol. 'Nobody knew what the pistol was in the NFL,' Patullo said. 'We were successful for the most part. We didn't win a lot of games, but we moved the ball with a bunch of guys that we didn't know really if we could do that with. So (Gailey) being able to show, 'Look, we do what we have to do to win, it doesn't matter, it doesn't have to look a certain way,' was huge.' Advertisement Thigpen, in his only season as a primary starter, lined up in a variety of shotgun alignments (including as a receiver in wildcat formations) during a 10-game stretch in which the Chiefs bumped their scoring offense from last in the NFL (12.5 points per game) to 19th (21.6) and their offensive EPA per play from 29th (-0.14) to 16th (0.07), according to TruMedia. Gailey later used similar concepts as head coach of the Buffalo Bills and offensive coordinator for the New York Jets. Patullo spent six seasons honing his craft as a problem-solver and game-planner with Gailey: three as an offensive quality control coach in Kansas City and Buffalo, one as the Bills' offensive assistant and assistant wide receivers coach and two as the Jets' quarterback coach. Patullo's variety of roles signaled his eventual rise. Some coaches are experts at certain positions. Some see the bigger picture. Gailey told The Athletic that Patullo 'was able to see the bigger picture better than some other people that I've been around. 'When you can see the big picture, you're able to solve the problems,' said Gailey, 73, who coached for seven NFL teams during his 46-year career. 'Because the biggest picture is how do we take what we have and defeat what they have? That's the big picture. And then once you see that and realize that, then you can start to cut it down to the smaller pieces of how do we get that done?' To compare the 2008 Chiefs to the 2025 Eagles incites amusement — perhaps an expletive in a Philly bar. Patullo has access to perhaps the most talented offense in the NFL. All but former starting right guard Mekhi Becton return from a Super Bowl LIX-winning lineup in which Saquon Barkley set the full-season rushing record behind a Pro Bowl-studded offensive line. That invited defensive attention the dual-threat Jalen Hurts exploited through the air with perennial 1,000-yard receivers A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith, plus tight end Dallas Goedert. And the Brotherly Shove remains legal. Advertisement Kellen Moore is now head coach of the New Orleans Saints because of his one-year management of the same talent pool. If the Eagles continue their offensive success under Patullo, he'll soon be a head coach himself. But he, like Moore, will be judged against the expectation for the Eagles to rewrite record books and win Super Bowls. He also knows talent alone offers no guarantees of meeting that standard. Patullo was the team's passing coordinator when Sirianni promoted former quarterbacks coach Brian Johnson in 2023 to replace Indianapolis Colts-bound Shane Steichen. An offensive system that reached Super Bowl LVII stalled during a disastrous collapse, largely due to the absence of adaptations within Sirianni-led staff meetings. It can be argued that Moore benefited from two advantages Patullo lacks: 1) the cracks in the previous system were clearly defined for a schematic foreman hired specifically to attempt repairs, 2) opponents had no film on how the Eagles planned to use Barkley. Coaches who watched the Eagles crush defenses in 2024 while averaging the franchise's most rushing attempts per game (36.5) since 1978 will have spent a full offseason concocting ways to stop them. Patullo must stay a step ahead with adaptations that don't abandon strengths or create needless complexities that could compromise the controls within one of the most coveted cockpits in the NFL. 'You got to have some imagination,' Gailey said. If there's a succinct phrase that captures how Patullo intends to stay ahead, it's 'building on what our players do best.' He's not espousing the stick-to-the-hits approach that doomed the Eagles in 2023. Instead, Patullo, who on Wednesday spoke to reporters for the first time in his new capacity, articulated an expansion. The Eagles understand their fundamental strengths. Patullo said there will be 'core plays that you know you trust.' But an offensive staff with four new hires — including passing game coordinator Parks Frazier and quarterbacks coach Scot Loeffler — is bringing ideas to staff meetings that add 'other layers' and 'new wrinkles' to the system. They're also weighing the ideas against a 'checklist of things' they expect opposing defenses will attempt. 'We have to be ready to adjust,' Patullo said. He comes from an idea-generating routine in which Gailey would start post-draft staff meetings by asking his coaches if they'd seen anything on film — NFL, college, high school or otherwise — that they ought to try to develop themselves. 'That's where the ideas would come from,' Gailey said. Once in-season, Gailey said they never focused on attacking a defense until they'd figured out what they had offensively themselves. What players do we have available? What are their strengths? Their weaknesses? Then they'd figure out how they were going to run the ball against their opponent. ('That was always first,' Gailey said.) Then came the play-action game. Then, drop-back passes. Then, situational football. After 21 years of coaching, Patullo will implement his own routine. Among the things he wanted to remind himself as he began a play-calling role for the first time: 'Just be me.' His debut as an offensive coordinator will be met with two major questions. Do his six years with Gailey give him enough systemic deviation from the seven years he's spent with Sirianni to be creative? And, more importantly, will the first-time OC, at age 43, foster an effective idea-generating process as the leader of a group of veteran assistant coaches and players? 'If you've got to worry about something or think about something, don't lose sleep over that one,' Gailey said. 'Whether he's gonna be able to handle the room, run the show, do all that. That's a non-issue in my book.' 'Now I know how Jalen feels,' Jordan Mailata said. 'This is crazy.' A sixth play caller in six seasons? Mailata, the Eagles' starting left tackle, knows his quarterback has had it worse. Hurts has had 11 play callers dating to his college days at Alabama and Oklahoma. The ever-growing list is a worn-out fact that likely remains relevant so long as Hurts and Sirianni are together. Advertisement Continuity is elusive in the NovaCare Complex. And as the last two years proved, sometimes overrated. The Sirianni-era Eagles have experienced enough transitions to strike a balance between systemic overhauls and simply running it back. Sirianni, who officially promoted Patullo 10 days after Super Bowl LIX, aimed to address any shortcomings in the idea-generation department by hiring Frazier and Loeffler. The Eagles believe those hires complement Patullo's strengths in the management and implementation department, where he'll turn to the player relationships he has formed since joining the Eagles in 2021. None are more important than Patullo's partnership with Hurts. The disorder within the 2023 collapse created a disconnect between Hurts and Sirianni that was repaired in the orderliness that followed Moore's hiring. Hurts and Sirianni reached their communicative stride in 2024 with a series of phone calls during the Week 5 bye, and Hurts spent every Tuesday night on the phone with Moore as they put together the week's initial game plan. Patullo emphasized that he and Hurts are entering their fifth season together. He said they've already formed a routine in OTAs in which Hurts is 'willing to try anything and then we can have dialogue after and kind of go from there.' 'Everyone's in a good place,' Hurts said of his relationship with Patullo. 'Everyone's focused, and everyone cares about their duties and what they're supposed to do. And we've always had some type of communication in the past in (game) prep. So nothing really changes in terms of that. It's just kind of people with different titles.' As for the Patullo-led system, Hurts said, 'there's some nuances that are different.' Last year, Hurts said Moore's system was '95 percent' new. With no need for such a drastic overhaul this time, Hurts still stressed that the Eagles are still 'very early' in the development stage of how this year's offense will evolve. They know from their adaptation after last year's Week 5 bye how plans formed in the summer can require change. Hurts underlined how the Chiefs aimed to stop Barkley in Super Bowl LIX, which gave way to a performance by the quarterback that won him the game's MVP trophy. 'Ultimately, we just have to find ways to play complementary football and continue to build off of what we've done,' Hurts said. 'But also knowing that it's only a template. It's only a reference in a sense, you know. And you gotta continue to grow from that and learn from the good references and the not-so-good references in a sense of what our success was. Just building that out, it'll evolve, it'll be what it'll be. Whatever it is, let's just find ways to win.' The dialogue between the Eagles' offensive coaching staff and players has ranged from combative to conducive. Mailata said Patullo's tenure in Philly 'makes it easy' for them to approach their new play caller with ideas. Mailata said he's already had conversations with Patullo about the system's terminology — 'something that we can clear up to make it easier for all positions.' The sixth-year left tackle has also approached his new play caller with schematic ideas. 'Because of our relationship, he can tell us, 'Yeah, that was bad. That's a bad idea. Here's why,'' Mailata said. 'But it's not just like, 'That's bad,' shut down. It's a why. And then I learned something that day. It's like, 'OK, great. Maybe I should just stick to playing online.'' Advertisement The rapid rotation of Eagles play callers reminds Patullo of the stakes ahead. Succeed, and he can become a head coach like Steichen and Moore. Fail, and he can be fired like Johnson. As Gailey said, Patullo always had a distinct grasp of the bigger picture. But as Patullo's debut as an NFL play caller approaches, he's reminding himself that he's prepared for this moment. 'To be honest, you're just kind of doing your job,' Patullo said. 'If you look at something like that big picture, I guess it could be overwhelming. But this is what I do. This is what I wanted to do. I've been wanting to do it, and I have an opportunity to do it, and like I said, I've got a great staff around me, great players, great organization — everything. So it'll be fun.'
New York Times
14-02-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
The Satchel: Focus, and ire, turns to Bills GM Brandon Beane in critical offseason
Whatever happens in the Super Bowl always causes reflexive projection. We tend to see how the game was won – in this specific case how the Kansas City Chiefs were obliterated – and adopt those concepts as a fail-safe method to get the job done next year. That temptation is exponentially more obvious for Buffalo Bills fans, who watched the Philadelphia Eagles' defense turn Patrick Mahomes into Tyler Thigpen without ever calling a blitz. But the idea that Buffalo must assimilate Philly's approach on the fly isn't so simple to implement and might not even be the way to go. Advertisement As submissions to The Satchel show, Bills fans are more frustrated than ever with general manager Brandon Beane. After years of coach Sean McDermott enduring most of the critical focus for the organization's inability to get past Kansas City and into the Super Bowl, we're seeing a shift toward the man who assembles the roster. As expected, the most common questions pertain to Buffalo's defensive shortcomings, whether trading for star edge rushers Myles Garrett and Maxx Crosby would be wise and the absence of higher-caliber offensive weaponry that might've made a difference in the AFC Championship Game. The Super Bowl made me feel like the Bills are further away than their performance this season suggested. The Bills' defense can't do what that Eagles' defense did or anything close to it. It feels like they are too many pieces away — especially considering Beane's inability to hit home runs on a first- or second-round defensive prospect outside of Ed Oliver. Am I wrong? — Jordan G. Buffalo remains very close, but right now I don't blame you for feeling pessimistic. The result last Sunday presented a paradox for fans. The vast majority wanted Kansas City to get dogwalked, but as that wish came true, anxieties spiked over feelings of deeper inadequacy. I suppose the sweet spot would've been a narrow Kansas City loss with both teams scoring in the teens, but Philadelphia was too damn good on the sport's grandest stage. Nevertheless, the Super Bowl is but one game and not the NFL's Rosetta stone. The Bills might've matched up better against Eagles defensive coordinator Vic Fangio's game plan. For instance, the Bills' offensive line was superior and their run game more dynamic than what the Chiefs offered. You never know. Turning a solitary snapshot into a mandate is dangerous. The Bills' scouting department and coaching staff will adjust, but any single opponent is a moving target. Advertisement The Chiefs will make changes, too, because they won't be the same squad in 2025. As long as Mahomes and Andy Reid are together, they'll remain contenders, but their organization is facing potentially transformative roster maneuvers. Even if tight end Travis Kelce returns, his skills have eroded. Although wideout Rashee Rice will return from injury, DeAndre Hopkins, Marquise Brown and Justin Watson are free agents, as are linebacker Nick Bolton and safety Justin Reid. Perhaps most significant is an offensive line that already has $71 million committed to next year's books and likely will lose Pro Bowl right guard Trey Smith, who's expected to command top dollar in free agency. That said, Buffalo does have obvious defensive holes to fill (we will get into that below) and requires more difference-makers on both sides of scrimmage. The reason Josh Allen won MVP is that, by leading the Bills to 13 wins and a fifth straight AFC East crown, he accomplished more with less than Mahomes and Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson did. Time to give him more substantive help. GO DEEPER Bills 7-round mock draft: A new weapon for Josh Allen and filling big needs on defense How likely is a trade for Myles Garrett? How much would that improve the Bills' current defense versus having a decent draft? — Stephen O. Is there any realistic way the Bills can trade for both Garrett and Crosby (even if they have to give up Groot)? In general, what are the odds they bring back Amari Cooper next season? — Nicholas J. In Buffalo's favor regarding potential Garrett and Crosby trades is that they belong to organizations that have made truly dumb decisions in recent years. The native Clevelander in me wonders if the Browns would take Von Miller for Garrett straight up. Yes, that's a joke, albeit not a funny one in that town. Unless the Browns or Las Vegas Raiders fall into my stereotype, either sackmaster will command significant draft capital to acquire — if made available at all. Each has two years remaining on his contract (about $40 million remaining for Garrett, $44 million for Crosby) and will want an extension package to be completely happy. Advertisement The Bills own the 30th, 56th and 62nd overall picks and none in the third round. Buffalo might not be able to compete with what another club is willing to send Cleveland's or Las Vegas' way. Maybe, as Nicholas mentions, Buffalo could sweeten the pot with edge rusher Gregory Rousseau. The 30th overall pick from 2021 has been pretty good, though far from fearsome. Garrett is a risky proposition despite a fourth All-Pro campaign. He is 29 but just completed his eighth season. That's a delicate juncture, our Mike Sando wrote this week. Career comparisons show elite defensive linemen rarely maintain elite performance so deep into a career, with Sando noting only Hall of Famer Reggie White bucked that trend. You also wonder whether Beane will touch the hot, older-edge-rusher stove again. Granted, Miller was 33 in his first Buffalo season, but that six-year, $120 million transaction has been an organizational pockmark. Crosby seems like the more palatable and doable acquisition. He will be 28 in August and just finished his sixth season. Crosby is not as decorated as Garrett and is coming off a down season of 7.5 sacks in 12 games. As for receiver Amari Cooper, I think the only way he comes back is if he's so enamored with the Bills organization that he is willing to accept a discounted salary. Cooper will turn 31 in June, and his individual statistics plummeted. But his presence opened the offense and helped increase the Bills' scoring output. Just two seasons ago, the five-time Pro Bowler caught 72 passes for 1,250 yards and five touchdowns. Cooper's agent has plenty of promotional material to work with. Buffalo won't be interested in a bidding war. GO DEEPER Myles Garrett trade proposals: 10 teams that would make sense for Browns All-Pro The NFC East has won multiple Super Bowls with a focus on the trenches. It's old-school, but as shown in that laugher of a Super Bowl versus the Chiefs, the Eagles dominated in the trenches and beat the best QB in the league. Will the Bills acknowledge that by fortifying their D-line? — Michael P. The entire defensive front must improve, but I'll go a step further: Neglecting the interior line has proven Buffalo's most glaring issue. As mentioned earlier, it's too simple to say 'Buffalo's just gotta do what Philly did, and Mahomes will quiver like Jell-O.' But the Eagles' down linemen made their Bills counterparts look like a bunch of minor leaguers. Advertisement Eagles edge rusher Josh Sweat had the splashiest individual stat line with 2.5 sacks, but a crew of nasty defensive tackles wrought devastation versus the run and the pass. Fangio called zero blitzes. That allowed the Eagles to drop seven defenders in coverage. Defensive tackles Jordan Davis, Jalen Carter, Milton Williams and Moro Ojomo combined for three sacks, another quarterback hit, a forced Mahomes fumble, a recovery and a rushing tackle for loss. Oliver, meanwhile, has not been played like a Bills foundational piece. The six-year pro has been too inconsistent to be counted upon as a difference-maker. After selecting Oliver ninth overall in 2019, Beane didn't draft a defensive tackle until DeWayne Carter in the third round last year. Carter started three of 11 games, missing time with a wrist injury, but was a healthy scratch throughout the playoffs. The only other defensive tackle drafted during the Beane-McDermott era was 2018 third-rounder Harrison Phillips, signed by the Minnesota Vikings when his rookie contract expired in 2022. Buffalo has spackled the position with veterans such as DaQuan Jones, Jordan Phillips, Tim Settle, Star Lotulelei and Vernon Butler. Eagles GM Howie Roseman, meanwhile, has loaded up on trench prospects. Roseman took Davis 13th overall in 2022 and just a year later drafted Jalen Carter ninth overall and Ojomo in the seventh round. Williams was a 2021 third-round pick, making him the unit's graybeard at 25 years old. The fifth defensive tackle on the Eagles' 53-man roster is the only one they didn't draft: Thomas Booker was a Houston Texans fifth-rounder in 2022. Should Brandon Beane be getting more heat for his part in the Bills' shortcomings? If I'm not mistaken, he has not drafted a single All-Pro or first-team Pro Bowler in his tenure other than Josh Allen. — Tom S. Beane should very much be under the microscope this offseason. The Samuel signing, injured or not, was dumb. He served no purpose. His draft record — do we still think trading Worthy to the Chiefs was a good idea? Here we are saying we need a speed guy AGAIN! The Miller contract killed us. Knox's contract is INSANE! Beane sucks! – Steve D. These are just two examples of the many submissions that questioned Beane's job performance. I don't necessarily agree with Steve, but I wanted to show the level of disgust some Bills fans are feeling about the second-most-popular GM in Bills history behind Hall of Famer Bill Polian. Advertisement Beane has drafted Pro Bowlers other than Allen, and we shall forevermore heap bonus points on Beane for nailing a franchise's most critical pick. Polian got his bronze bust in Canton thanks in large part to his predecessor drafting Jim Kelly and owning the No. 1 choice the year Peyton Manning turned pro. But I digress … I assume 'first-team Pro Bowler' means not an alternate, so that would eliminate tight end Dawson Knox, but Beane did snag Tremaine Edmunds and James Cook. (Left tackle Dion Dawkins, linebacker Matt Milano and cornerback Tre'Davious White were rookies when Beane came aboard in 2017, but Doug Whaley was the GM for that class.) Overall, Beane's draft ledger is blotchy. He has identified day-three gems such as receivers Khalil Shakir and Gabriel Davis, nickelback Taron Johnson, cornerback Christian Benford and safety Damar Hamlin. The first two rounds haven't produced enough. Cook and right guard O'Cyrus Torrence have been second-round successes, but first-round cornerback Kaiir Elam reminded us all in the AFC title game why he doesn't warrant a uniform some weeks. And with as many swings as Beane has taken on edge rushers (A.J. Epenesa in 2020, Rousseau and Boogie Basham in 2021), you'd imagine at least one would become a reliable powerhouse. Instead, that role has been a perennial question mark. As for the 2024 rookies, it's too soon to judge, but folks will be sore about Kansas City receiver Xavier Worthy and Philly defensive back Cooper DeJean making highlight-reel plays in the Super Bowl until the players Buffalo collected within the first two rounds step forward in a humongous way. Worthy looked sensational down the homestretch and in the Super Bowl caught eight passes for 157 yards and two TDs. I don't care whether you consider those garbage-time numbers or not; they ought to aggravate Bills fans who feared exactly that kind of production the moment Beane traded out of that 28th slot. The Bills eventually turned that pick into Coleman and DeWayne Carter, non-entities in the playoffs. If the Bills had drafted Cooper DeJean instead of Keon Coleman, do you believe we would have been in the Super Bowl? — Kelly A. My first thought was a hard no. Then I wrote out both sides of the scenario, deleted my response and started over. If we look explicitly at the AFC Championship Game, then I believe the answer is an emphatic yes. My first deliberation encompassed the entire season, and in that vein, I don't believe one defensive back would've made a difference for Buffalo in 2024 because you'd also need to replace Coleman with another wideout. The Bills' next draft choice was safety Cole Bishop at 60th overall, and the receiver options there included the likes of Malachi Corley (his most memorable play for the New York Jets was fumbling a TD celebration before he crossed the goal line), Jermaine Burton, Roman Wilson, Jalen McMillan and Luke McCaffrey. Advertisement So the Bills couldn't have afforded to wait on a receiver had they gone a different direction with their first pick. I also reasoned that Coleman remains a worthwhile prospect. Despite missing four games, he finished second with 556 receiving yards and four TDs while averaging a robust 19.2 yards a catch. But in that elimination game, the Bills lost 32-29 and could've used a catalyst. Coleman played 53 percent of the snaps that night, catching one of his four targets for 12 yards. The Bills' defense struggled to make stops. Their secondary was shorthanded. Top safety Taylor Rapp couldn't play because of a hip injury. Bishop replaced him after starting just four games and playing 34 percent of Buffalo's defensive snaps all season. In the first quarter, Benford suffered his second concussion in eight days. That pressed Elam into service. Elam was overmatched. DeJean, meanwhile, has proven himself a versatile agitator already. He won the Eagles' starting nickelback job by Week 6 and is a possible heir to star boundary cornerback Darius Slay's gig. DeJean finished with 51 tackles, three for losses, half a sack, six pass breakups, a forced fumble and three recoveries while handling punt return duties. He played over 90 percent of Philly's defensive snaps in each of its four postseason games. He recorded 18 tackles, four pass breakups, a fumble recovery and that rollicking interception return for a touchdown in the Super Bowl. That's the kind of player Buffalo's defense could've used that fateful night in Arrowhead Stadium. Coleman's production was easily replaceable, while DeJean would've upgraded the Bills' secondary over the course of the entire game. Swap them out that night, and the Bills go to the Super Bowl — final answer. What's more likely, the Bills use those three picks in the first two rounds to trade up or on a defensive end trade? — Mark K. Three picks within the first two rounds sounds cushy. Yet when you consider the slots, the buying power isn't as attractive. Advertisement Most efficient option of the three options is keeping the picks and continuing to fortify the roster with young talent. Allen is a relative bargain given that he earned MVP as the 14th-highest-paid quarterback. Still, his contract mitigates what can be spent elsewhere. That's how every team must navigate the luxury of a no-doubt franchise QB. As such, it becomes increasingly imperative to collect as many contributors on rookie contracts as competitively feasible. This year's draft class is considered deep at edge rusher, defensive tackle and cornerback. That bodes well for Buffalo's needs. But you asked for my prediction. Beane is a certified wheeler-dealer. He has a long history of jockeying forward in the draft order, with last year's retreat a unique exception. He also is unafraid to trade premium draft assets on a superstar solution. Even so, my prediction is that Beane trades up a little bit, finessing his penchant for seizing a player he really wants while not depleting his reserves significantly. If you were GMBB and you could get a second-round pick in this year's draft for Dalton Kincaid, would you do it? — James B. Whoa, fans are getting impatient in The Satchel. A year ago, Kincaid was a darling. He enjoyed a rookie campaign that gave fans and fantasy owners the vapors. BetOnline listed Kincaid's 2024 over-under totals at 77.5 catches, 800.5 receiving yards and 5.5 receiving touchdowns. He was painted the Bills' safest fantasy pick after Allen and Cook, the guy who would generate the most targets. Kincaid flopped. He battled collarbone and knee injuries, but missed only four games. He caught 44 passes for 448 yards and two touchdowns with six drops in the regular season. In the playoffs, Kincaid mustered six receptions for 71 yards and no touchdowns with two drops. The Bills' final offensive play was Kincaid flubbing what would have been a fourth-down conversion in field-goal territory, sealing the Chiefs' three-point victory. Advertisement Kincaid didn't develop as a blocker either. Knox played a higher percentage of available snaps. Backup offensive lineman Alec Anderson was inserted as an eligible receiver often. Beane remarked at his postmortem news conference Kincaid needs to get stronger to endure the NFL's rigors. That's the type of message you'd expect for a rookie. But, no, I would not trade Kincaid for a second-round pick. I maintain higher hopes for him than that. Does it make sense for the Bills to use a decent draft pick for a cost-controlled backup to Josh Allen? If not this year, when? — Ajagg I love this topic because I detest the 'It doesn't matter because if Josh gets hurt, then our season is screwed anyway' mentality. Kurt Warner, Jim Plunkett and Doug Williams likely agree with me. Besides, Bills fans should value their history. They were beaten by backup Jeff Hostetler in their first Super Bowl and wouldn't reach their third Super Bowl without backup Frank Reich's heroics. As for this question, I'd like to know what defines a 'decent draft pick,' but generally speaking I don't think it's worth better than a day-three developmental prospect, and the Bills already have four quarterbacks they like under contract. Back when I covered the AFC East for ESPN, one of the league's more fascinating stories was how New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick approached backing up an active QB icon. Tom Brady became the Patriots' starting quarterback and won the Super Bowl in 2001, but three months later they drafted Rohan Davey in the fourth round anyway. Belichick took Kliff Kingsbury in the sixth round in 2003 and Matt Cassel in the seventh round in 2005. Belichick spent third-round picks on Kevin O'Connell in 2008, Ryan Mallett in 2011 and Jacoby Brissett in 2016, and ventured a second-round pick on Jimmy Garoppolo in 2014. Advertisement All that draft capital, and the only one to make a mark was Cassel, a project who hadn't started a game since high school and attempted 33 passes over his entire USC career. In 2008, Cassel quarterbacked the Patriots to an 11-5 record when Brady suffered a season-ending knee injury in the opener. 'If you're trying to get your backup guy to eventually be your starter or be able to go in and win for you, and you draft a young player like Cassel, you know he's not ready that first year,' Belichick told me in 2009. 'But you hope in time you can get him ready.' Were those earlier draft picks wasted? Insurance is a commodity, but they might've been starters at other positions. Belichick's policy was that a backup quarterback be a stabilizer or a project. 'That's the problem with a young quarterback,' Belichick said. 'It takes a little bit of time to develop them. The problem with the old quarterback is it's a year-to-year proposition. 'It's a combination of how far you really think you'll be able to go with that player and if you feel he's keeping it warm until you had your starter back — but then you're looking for someone else.' The Bills haven't developed a rookie quarterback since the Teapot Dome Scandal. They've drafted only two others in the Beane/McDermott era: fifth-rounders Nathan Peterman and Jake Fromm in 2017 and 2020. As for veterans, they've cycled through Mitchell Trubisky, Case Keenum, Matt Barkley, Kyle Allen and Derek Anderson. Trubisky, third-stringer Mike White and Shane Buechele are under contract through 2025. It would be Trubisky's third Bills season in four years. (Top photo of Brandon Beane: Kirby Lee / Imagn Images)
