San Jose Bills Fan

It's amazing isn't it? On one hand, no one on that team knows how to keep their yapper shut. Then you mix that with a media corps that's a combination of the Hollywood paparazzi and the Soviet KGB and you get a perpetual motion tabloid generator. I wonder how much of a distraction it really is for NYC athletes… you'd think they'd become inured to it after awhile.

From July 6th: From today: http://www.buffalobills.com/news/article-1/Bills-name-six-team-captains/e8474a9b-949e-4d43-99dc-bb199d8057f4 "At Wednesday morning’s team meeting the Bills announced their six captains. Ryan Fitzpatrick and Fred Jackson will lead the offense, Kyle Williams and George Wilson will captain the defense and Corey McIntryre and Brian Moorman will head up the special teams unit." Good of you to bring this topic back up. McIntyre is a holy terror out there. I personally hope he gets more plays in the offense… I'd like to see him get 2 touches a game instead of 1 touch every two weeks.

Kleinsasser was virtually an extra offensive lineman…

This preseason Stevie has looked NOTICEABLY quicker and explosive than he did at any time last year.

This is a grave miscarriage of your duties.

Firstly there is no such a thing as a good pick or a bad pick. It all depends on where the player is taken. Like the NFL draft, a fantasy draft has everything to do with value. That said, I'm high on Stevie Johnson. Last season he injured his groin during the first week of training camp and the injury hobbled him all season long. Then, Lee Evans was traded, Easley was placed on IR, Roscoe Parrish and Donald Jones were injured, and then later on Scott Chandler was injured and Fitz suffered broken ribs in week 8. That's not to mention that Fred Jackson also failed to last the whole season. With a return to good health and without all the factors which killed the Bills offense last year, Stevie (who's looked great in preseason) is primed for a big year. I got Stevie in the 5th round of two different leagues… it seems to me that he's being undervalued in most leagues and that he can be had for cheap.

Actually FWIW, Naaman bulked up this past offseason, going from 189 to 199. While your second sentence might be true, it's not lack of work ethic which has kept Naaman Roosevelt from becoming a bona fide NFL player.

FWIW, Dickerson is very similar to the Niners "move TE" Delanie Walker, who is a major asset in their offense. Not sure about your last sentence but anyways, a guy who's 230-235 who runs a legit 4.4 can be a problem to defend. I thought Dickerson looked good in preseason. He doesn't have a lot of wiggle but his straight line speed alone creates problems for the D.

Kudos to jonramz. Nice post. This would be a good thread for me to post some interesting (to me anyways) notes from my viewing of the Bills-Steelers preseason game. In obvious response to the 3-4 blitzing scheme of Pittsburgh, the Bills in approximately 29 offensive plays in the first half, employed double tight ends 10 times and triple tight ends twice. So they were in multiple tight ends nearly half of all plays. In addition, Lee Smith had 17 snaps compared to Scott Chandler who had about 12. While we all know Chandler is the superior receiver, Smith is virtually an extra offensive tackle in the game. Chandler, in spite of working with new TE Coach Pete Metzelaars, still appears to be a below average blocker to me. He really struggles to block. On a related note, if you recall, there were two times this preseason when Gailey said that running the ball would be a point of emphasis for this team. I think especially against teams like the Steelers and Jets, the Bills will employ quite a bit of double tight end. When they do this and go to a "heavy set" with CMac in the game, they can run the ball very effectively. I believe that those who think the Bills run game can only be successful by spreading out the defense will need to revise this opinion. There were a few plays in the Bills-Steelers where Cordy Glenn dominated Brett Keisel, blowing him off the line of scrimmage. I believe (hope?) that Gailey will surprise this year with much greater offensive balance. Recall that he has coached run-heavy offenses in the past (Pittsburgh, Kansas City).

Obviously there are very few teams who would be above picking the brain of a player recently cut by their opening week opponent. However (as you know) Lawyer Milloy was a 29-year old safety who had just come off his 4th consecutive Pro Bowl appearance. Really not the same situation.

Actually as I mentioned in one of the numerous pre-draft wide receiver/roster threads, my friend who's a dyed-in-wool NY Giants fan says that Derek Hagan was on the Giants roster for 3 years solely because of his excellence as a special teams gunner. I don't recall if the Bills used him in that role but he apparently excelled at it at one time. I'm gonna nail you on a technicality… Roosevelt can play special teams… he's a decent punt returner.

I'm not sure you do.

I've gone deep underground until next Tuesday as I prepare for my ridiculously overly-competitive fantasy football drafts but I have to comment on this topic. Firstly, the Seahawks are to be lauded for the conviction with which they draft. Lots of casual fans loved Wilson but many "experts" were unconvinced. Many of these same experts had Bruce Irvin pegged as a 2nd or 3rd round pick (I stated he would be drafted in the first round)… the Seahawks picked Irvin in the first round. After they selected Irvin, Buddy Ryan congratulated Pete Carroll on the pick and said that the Jets would have drafted Irvin in round one had he slid to them. Clearly the Seahawks couldn't care less what Kiper, McShay, and Mayock think. Many readers here should take a lesson from that and place a lot less stock in the opinions of the so-called experts. Good post. The people here criticizing the Graham pick based on the draft projections of "experts" are absolutely hilarious. Aren't the experts who said that TJ Graham was a 5th rounder the same experts who had Russell Wilson pegged as a 4th rounder? So we're supposed to criticize the Bills for reaching but compliment the Seahawks for reaching? There were two rumors swirling around the Graham pick. You mention the first one regarding Jacksonville. The other rumor concerned the hope that the Bills had that Wilson would be around in the 4th round. With a high fourth round pick isn't it very plausible that the Bills hoped that Wilson would be available in the 4th? Didn't the fact that Seattle didn't really need a quarterback (they signed Flynn 5 weeks before the draft) but drafted one anyways possibly throw a wrench in the Bills projections? I love Russell Wilson. I have high hopes for TJ Graham. That said, there is a valid question (criticism?) regarding whether the Bills need to show greater aggression when drafting quarterbacks.

My original post was more about posturing. Levitre's not gonna pass up an opportunity to motivate his teammates or the opportunity to say "the right thing" to the media. I doubt that he's actually concerned and I doubt the O-line needs any motivation. To Hopeful, I'm not concerned too much about the Pears-Hairston situation. I think Hairston will be fine if pressed into service. I do agree that Wood's health is the most critical factor in the success of the O-line. The difference between Wood-Urbik and Urbik-Rinehart seems pretty significant. In other words, IMO if Wood is healthy the Bills O-line will be fine.

Polian is no longer there so the McCargo thing has zero relevance if it had any to begin with. Your implication that Nix could have dealt Merriman to the Colts (and that he possibly mishandled Merriman's release) is far fetched. Yes, McCargo was a loser and it doesn't reflect well on the decision makers of that time.

I mentioned Unitas earlier and he is a compelling counterargument to Montana being the first franchise quarterback ever. Ironically in the most dramatic moment of his career in "The Greatest Game Ever Played," it was fullback Alan Ameche who toted the rock over the goal line in overtime to secure the victory for the Colts. But Unitas was epic in that game. I had forgotten Otto Graham in my earlier post. Another incredible statistical outlier of his time who completely transcended his position was Don Hutson. He held all of these NFL records, many of which still stand today, in spite of playing wide receiver from 1935 to 1945: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Hutson#NFL_records p.s. I believe there is such a thing as a franchise quarterback but it is based on accomplishment in the NFL and nothing else.

I've heard that Hagan was an outstanding gunner/special teams players on his previous teams. If he's better than Martin from an offensive standpoint, I think he's in the mix.

I don't know MD. I'd have to think the coaching staff is a bit concerned about Sheppard.

You watch the games with Sarah Palin? Politics aside, she is a cougar. I wouldn't say that Brad Smith excels at nothing but despite putting up good numbers in college, I remain totally unconvinced that he can actually, you know, throw the football.

Isn't that an ABBA song?

Well then, I think the job is nearing completion and the expectations should be high… but that the Bills haven't quite crossed the threshold of having been completely rebuilt. Until I see that WR and LB are no longer concerns, and until I see where VY is clearly on track for a career re-birth, I'll say I'm in group 2.

I'd agree with you. Yes there have always been great QBs (Unitas, Jurgenson, Baugh, Luckman) but those guys passed so much less and relied so much more on the ground attack than modern day QBs. Early Super Bowls were won by outstanding game manager type QBs like Bart Starr, Len Dawson, and Bob Griese. More and more the onus for offensive excellence rests on the QB.

I'm not sure Moats has outplayed Morrison. Tough to say. Morrison seems to hit his run fits very well to my eye. And I think they keep McKillop regardless.

Maybe Levitre and the line are putting pressure and expectations upon themselves as a way to motivate and focus? Personally I have zero concerns about our offensive line. They and the defensive line will not be the culprits if the Bills season undershoots expectations.

Firstly, it's not a black/white thing. Between group 1 and group 2 there is a vast area of grey. Secondly, teams are constantly trying to improve and maintain their rosters so the process is really never done. Finally, Nix has said repeatedly that the expectation for this year is the playoffs and anything less would be a disappointment… in other words I'll again state my belief that there's a scenario out there where Buddy fires Chan after this season if Chan can't teach this baby to run. This is a pretty talented roster and I don't think 8-9 wins is gonna be satisfactory to Buddy… regardless of the exact nature of the season.