San Jose Bills Fan

The story of a punter getting franchised is used as a springboard into another Andy Levitre conversation. Is everyone gonna repeat their already oft-repeated predictions on how much it'll cost to re-sign Andy? Sorry but it's getting to be a bit much. If the conversation had gone in another direction (franchise tags on specialists?) it wouldn't have hit the nerve. Sorry and carry on. And yes, I shouldn't have posted here.

Fair enough Dave. That Bills-Bengals game also had a few other plays which were pivotal but we won't have to wait long to get a more definitive view on Dalton. On a tangent, as I've rhetorically asked a few times now, I wonder how many fans in Cincy wish the Bengals had taken Kaepernick?

Okay, I agree. Dump the Wildcat. How does everyone feel about Brad Smith running plays out of the Read Option?

Great time for a guy that big. However I'm less impressed because the part of the story you left out is very significant. Ansah ran track and field before taking up football at Brigham Young and was a sprinter, running both the 100 and 200 meters.

Other FA tight ends not mentioned would include Dustin Keller and Brandon Myers. Very good players without the drama and baggage carried by Finley. I believe there are other viable options as well.

Hmmm. Nassib looks very below par as far as elusivity and speed. I would say he's far below Fitz in that category. The problem with Fitz is that once he decides to run, he stops looking downfield for a throw. I don't know how Nassib extends plays with his feet but in about 100 Nassib snaps I've watched he's pretty statuesque.

Whoever they sign in free agency (and they should certainly attempt to improve the team at all times) needs to be a guy they can count on for years of good service as they slowly rebuild yet again. Both Kruger and Ellerbe seem to fit this criteria.

With 3 premier OT prospects available this year and it being such a coveted position, the Bills might actually have some trade options at #8.

A third rounder and a contract which will pay him one more season at $7 million. Then he'll be a free agent and then what? The franchise tag for a tight end is $6.7 million but no, Jermichael wants to be paid like a wide receiver, the very reason he signed for more than the tight end franchise tag with the Packers. At best we'll have him for one year and then he'll insist yet again on being overpaid. Good organizations don't throw money at players like Jermichael Finley. Edit: His 2013 compensation is $8.25 million. http://www.rotoworld.com/player/nfl/4717/jermichael-finley

So it appears that Wisconsin does have a Women's Varsity Soccer Team. So how this woman got a tryout is a big mystery seeing as she wasn't even good enough to play varsity. I wonder how she was chosen. http://www.uwbadgers.com/sports/w-soccer/mtt/wis-w-soccer-mtt.html

Patently undependable player who has a propensity for saying things in the media that he shouldn't. He suffers untimely drops, was never able to develop a strong chemistry with Rodgers and in fact Rodgers never trusted him to see the play on the same wavelength. The two were passive aggressive towards each other in the media. Rodgers started going more to Finley only when Green Bay suffered a rash of injuries to their wideouts. He's a semi-diva who has underachieved his immense talents. Pass.

She lasted only 2 kicks: http://www.nypost.co...Xb1Q4qWXTaU7G3L "She tried two kickoffs, the first going 19 yards and the second about 13 yards, and then asked to see a trainer. As more than two dozen media, including E! Entertainment network, watched her every move, the 28-year-old Silberman was examined off to the side of the practice field. About 30 minutes later, while 36 other kickers continued their workouts, she called the scene "surreal" and thanked the NFL for "this tremendous opportunity." Makes you wonder if she even prepared for this. A soccer player who could only her first kickoff 57 feet? Hell I could do better than that. And the story says she was a club soccer player which says to me that she wasn't on the varsity team. Am I wrong here?

It is interesting isn't it? http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/02/28/source-radar-gun-says-kaepernick-had-combines-strongest-arm/ http://www.rotoworld.com/recent/nfl/8394/tyler-bray What's interesting is that the NFL has been moving towards making the Combine and regional combines much more fan friendly (read: revenue producing) to the point of inviting a female soccer player to show her wares as a placekicker. They've also for the first time invited media inside the stadium and this year, invited a limited amount of fans into the stadium. They're trying like hell to build interest in the Combine. What would be more riveting for hard core fans like ourselves than watching to see which quarterbacks had the biggest canons?

Yes he's our starting RG. I was only pointing out that we have no fewer than 3 guys who can play center in a pinch.

Hey Astro, I have a tough question for you, not sure you can answer it. I know for a fact that quarterbacks at the combine have their throws measured for velocity with a radar gun. In 2011 Colin Kaepernick had the fastest throw ever recorded in the 4 years of measuring with a throw of 59 miles per hour. Fast forward two years and Tyler Bray matched that feat this year. So I know they measure it so why is this measurement never included when combine results are given? Anyone? It goes without saying that this would be one of the most coveted and talked about measurements at the combine if they publicly disclosed this.

edit: In recollecting, I wanted the Bills to draft Jabaal Sheard when they drafted Aaron Williams. But I liked Kaepernick a great deal.

Maybe clamoring is too strong a word but there was plenty of support for Kaepernick in 2011. Pretty much every day Tonyjustbecause made the case for Kaepernick. OldTimer posted several times in favor of drafting him as did mrags, Tipster, Reddogblitz, CoachTuesday, Beerball, and yours truly. Many of us were liking him in a trade down in the middle of round one and when he was still available in 2nd round, it became a no-brainer to draft him in the view of many here.

Yeah we all remember him saying that. Unfortunately it had the ring of a person who had learned the lesson he was espousing, the hard way. Similar to when Nix recently pointed out that you could draft a QB-WR combo like Cinci did with Dalton and Green. His enlightenment as a GM has tended to happen after the fact, unfortunately.

Also, the top money is typically reserved for left tackles, not right tackles like Andre Smith.

Thanks for posting. As I've always said, unless the sabermetricians are former scouts AND have access to the "All-22" video (which only became available last year), their statistical findings are pretty suspect. Just this past week at MIT, one of the speakers reiterated this point using "Offensive Linemen Sacks Allowed" as an example. Paraphrasing the speaker (Pioli?) "without knowing the playbook assigments and adjustments, an outsider cannot always determine which player is at fault for a QB sack."

If you believe that guards are increasing in importance due to the increased emphasis on passing, then your best bet is to draft a tackle and turn him into a guard. Check out the bolded below:

Either that or they have access to stories that nobody else in the world has and that no other media sources want to pick up and give them credit them for. More likely, A.

I have always stated that QBs and pass rushers are the most important commodities on a football team so you'll get zero argument from me on that point. My point is about guards and the opinion I have that I would never take one high (Top 15), where I would take an offensive tackle high.

And the beer I had for breakfast wasn't bad, so I had one more for dessert...

Urbik can also play center so I like our depth there.